


The Moments I Cherish

by 67Impala



Category: Supernatural, What's Your Number? (2011)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Crossover, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Musician!Dean, Slow Build, What's Your Number? AU, artist!castiel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-06
Updated: 2014-09-13
Packaged: 2018-02-03 16:38:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 38,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1751417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/67Impala/pseuds/67Impala
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel is convinced he's passed up the man of his dreams. Upon reading a magazine article that leaves him dejected about his future marriage prospects, Castiel begins to fear that one of his many ex-boyfriends may have been "the one that got away." Now, with a little help from his mischievous neighbor Dean, Castiel is paying a visit to each of his exes in order to reel in the perfect catch. Only it doesn't all go as planned.<br/>Inspired by the 2011 film 'Whats Your Number?'<br/></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Repeating The Same

Castiel’s eyes fluttered open, revealing the soft cornflower blue of his irises underneath. It was a Monday morning, just like any other. He could see the light as it streamed through his open window, the thin curtains flowing in the breeze with the constant hum of traffic that came with the city life droning away in the background. He sat up and stretched, suddenly becoming aware of the large warm mass lying next to him and snoring softly.

“Fuck” he whispered.

He had sworn he wouldn't do this again, that he’d quit while he was ahead. He knew that Nathaniel didn’t share the same feelings that he did towards him and only used him for what he thought was a no-strings-attached hook up every now and again. He didn’t know that Castiel had told his family about him, as a poor attempt to make it seem like he was engaging in a long-lasting healthy relationship rather than the one-night-stand scatterings that were the truth.

He slipped quietly out of the double bed, taking care to not tug at the covers that Nathaniel had wrapped himself in. He tip-toed over his en-suite, his bare feet making no sound on the thick rug he had picked up from a thrift store a couple of weeks back. Not that he could really afford to be buying new rugs at the moment, but at least he had a job, even if it was working at that godforsaken marketing firm with his creepy boss Bartholomew. He knew he wasn’t the only one that had noticed, and steered well clear of him because of his vile finger sniffing habit.

Castiel took up his hairbrush and furiously attacked his wild bed-hair. He wiped his face with a dampened flannel, rubbing away the memories of last night’s activities and added a splash of cold water, in an attempt to bright up his face. He squeezed a small blob of toothpaste onto his tongue and rubbed it into his front teeth. He then dried himself off and checked to look in the mirror, he looked much better and certainly not like he’d been up all night. Castiel exited the bathroom and crossed the room swiftly, slipped back under the sheets, laid his head on the pillow and closed his eyes. Castiel could hear Nathaniel as he shifted, rustling the covers before he rolled over to face Castiel. Nathaniel’s eyes fluttered open, resting on Castiel’s closed ones. Castiel opened his eyes slowly, yawning slightly to add to the illusion that he had just woken up, locking eye contact with the man across the bed.

“How come you always look so great in the morning?” Nathaniel mumbled, unaware of Castiel regular morning trip to the bathroom to freshen up.

This earned a shrug from Castiel and a small smile that played on the edge of his lips.

“Do I?” He murmured.

Nathaniel nodded slowly and turned over to go back to sleep. Castiel sighed. This was so not going to work. 

 

~

 

Castiel flipped the vegetarian sausages in the frying pan, God he hated those things. All healthy and looking like they ran the place, he’d rather have a traditional breakfast with some actual protein but Nathaniel was vegetarian so that was out of the question. He unloaded the cylindrical abominations between two plates, alongside some fairly sloppy scrambled egg, just as he heard the bedroom door open and Nathaniel walk out, fully dressed and trying to fit on his bicycle helmet as he walked past, hands full of his backpack and a solitary bicycle wheel.

“Sorry babe I’ve got to run.” He said as he clambered up the couple of steps to the front door of Castiel’s apartment.

“Oh, I made veggie sausages for you?” Castiel called out after him, only to hear the sound of bags being dropped in the hallway in response.

Nathaniel’s head popped round the corner of the kitchen and smiled, void of the bicycle helmet he had on only a moment earlier. He walked across the room in long strides and threw himself into a chair at the small table where Castiel was just placing the plates. He started to eat, shoving pieces of, whatever those sausage were made out of, into his mouth in quick succession as Castiel made his way back into the kitchen.

“So,” Castiel started, fairly certain of what the response was going to be, but he was going to try anyway, Nathaniel owed him that much. “I was wondering if you would be my date to my sister’s wedding, you remember Anna? It’s in a few weeks time, they already have a vegetarian alternative, I checked and…”

Nathaniel looked up from his nearly demolished plate of food, a look of confusion and fear flashing across his face.

“What?” Castiel questioned.

“I dunno, it feels a little serious you know?” He replied, diving back into his breakfast.

Castiel stopped. Seriously?

“Well, _you know_ , it felt a little serious last night went you were sucking my dick but I couldn't see you face so I’m not sure…” Castiel replied, a small smirk fleeting across him face, he was done with this shit. All he wanted was a date to the wedding so his brothers would stop questioning whether there was something wrong with him or not, and with all he’d done for Nathaniel, he deserved that.

Nathaniel glanced up looking guilty before returning back to his food. That was a no then.

 

~

 

Castiel opened the door for Nathaniel, letting him pass through onto the shared corridor above the stairwell.

“You know if you ever want to hook up, you can just call me?” Nathaniel offered.

“Oh ok, _thank you_ Nathaniel, that’s very generous of you.” Castiel replied, rolling his eyes.

Nathaniel nodded and took off down the stairs two at a time. Castiel moved inside to close the door to his apartment just as the door opposite opened to reveal a rather naked, but certainly not repulsive man, with only a towel to hide his modesty. Castiel stood there in his doorway, pretending not to watch. He was about the same age as Castiel, early thirties, with short light brown hair and the brightest green eyes Castiel had ever seen, not to mention the extremely well-toned chest and thighs. There was a call of “Dean, hurry up!” as the man, obviously Dean, picked up the newspaper by his feet. Dean looked up and saw Castiel watching him, flashed a smirk and winked, before giving him a salute with the rolled up newspaper and stepping back into his own apartment. Castiel stepped back, flustered and shut the door to his flat.

 

~

 

“Oh Cassie I told you it wasn’t going to work out with Nathaniel months ago.” A soft British voice drawled from the end of the telephone.

“Why?” Castiel exclaimed as he walked down the side of the street on his way to work.

“You love meat, you don’t even like super lanky guys…I could go on.”

Castiel glanced down at the sausage roll that lay half-eaten in his hands as he darted in front of some cars and sighed.

“I do love meat,” he agreed, “But how many relationships do I have to go through before I can find the right guy?!”

“Evidently a lot darling, _now_ what about that cute neighbor you were telling me about? What’s his name again? The way you described his ass, I’d quite like to have a go…”

Castiel could almost hear Balthazar’s eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

“Dean, but, wait, maybe I would if he wasn’t so, well, _straight_. He brings home girls almost religiously every other night and when he’s not doing them he’s blasting Led Zeppelin at unholy hours of the morning, flirts with anything that’s got a heartbeat and wears a completely impractical number of layers of clothing.”

“Well unless you’ve got into Robert Pattinson lately and have gone full blown vamp, ‘things with a heartbeat’ includes you my dear, now, I have to go. Anna’s freaking out about the flowers or something. But remember, you need a date for this wedding and one that Michael can stand to talk to for five minutes. Tops.”

“Goodbye Balthazar.” Castiel grumbled. If Balthazar, his brother, the guy who had slept with every person on the planet at least once couldn't give him any advice he might as well quit while he’s ahead and die alone or something. He certainly wasn't going to try out one of Balthazar’s ‘date set ups’ again. Not after last time.

 

~

 

As Castiel stepped out of the elevator into the offices of Linsky solutions he could already hear the chuckling of his co-workers. He rounded the corner to see Hannah perched on the edge of his desk, laughing with Theo and Virgil.

“Castiel!” Hannah exclaimed, “So what do you think? Thinking or smelling?”

He turned to see where she was directing her gaze. The office of his boss Bartholomew, who was talking to another office executive. Every so often he would raise his index and middle finger to the bridge of his nose and breathe in deeply.

“Smelling.” Virgil confirmed.

“Well he’s definitely thinking, whatever she is saying must be very thought provoking.” Mused Castiel.

The women walked out of the clear paneled office as Castiel placed his bag on his desk and settled into his seat.

“Um, Castiel?”

He turned round to see Bartholomew indicating for him to enter his office. He stood up and walked through the door and sat down on the seat opposite his boss’s desk. He began to remove his tan-colored trench coat but was interrupted by Bartholomew telling him to keep it on.

“Castiel, I’m sorry but we’re going to have to let you go. We’ve had to make some painful cuts, you have been a great addition to the team while you have been here and I would like to thank you for that.”

Castiel's mind worked to process what had just been said before he started to fasten his coat again and sighed. He had heard this speech so many times before, always using the same techniques to try and make themselves feel not so bad about firing someone.

“Who else is getting fired?” Castiel asked, standing up from the chair infront of his boss' desk.

“Well for now…”

Bartholomew flipped through the loose pieces of paper on his desk, then laid his entwined fingers on top.

“Just you.”

 

~

 

The papers in the cardboard box Castiel had used to pack up his desk fluttered as the subway train pulled onto the platform. This wasn't the first time he’d been fired and it wasn't likely to be his last. He didn't even like marketing, but at least it paid the rent and put food on the table, it even gave him a bit of extra cash to buy his favorite oil paints.

Castiel stepped onto the train and sat down on one of the hard, but familiar seats and placed the box beside him. He pulled out one of the magazines wedged in-between the side and however many staplers Castiel had accumulated over the years. He flicked through the pages, passing over boring sports articles and random men’s health columns, until the high-pitched ringing of his phone pierced through the silence in the subway cab. Castiel pulled out his phone from his coat pocket and looked at the screen. Crap. Michael.

He slid his thumb across the screen and answered the call.

“Can you call me back Michael, I’m in a meeting.” He whispered, then quickly hanging up. He decided he wouldn't tell his brothers about his unemployment, not quite yet, he would wait for the buzz of Anna’s wedding to die out first. 

He opened up the magazine to an article he hadn't seen before, _What’s Your Number?_ Oh God not another self-help take-this-quick-quiz-and-everything-will-be-ok articles, one of the things he despised most in the world, but like most people who made a point about not liking something, Castiel continued to do it anyway. So he read it.

 

~

Oh shit. If this article was anything to go on, Castiel really was going to be spending the rest of his life alone. Apparently the national average for the number of sexual partners someone has is 10.5 and Castiel knows he is way over that. And anyone with over 20 is proven to either have difficulty or not be able to ever find a long lasting partner. Now, Castiel had never been in a proper relationship his whole life, there had been boyfriends here and there but nobody that he could really connect with, someone that made Castiel feel like he was worth it.

He had used to be a good little brother, always obeying Michael and doing what was best for the family. Blood came first, before anything. But this number thing had Castiel worried. So he made a list.

~

 

“Samandriel!” Castiel recalled, as he stumbled out of the steaming shower and rushed over to his leather bound notebook that was sitting abandoned by the bathroom sink. He scribbled down the name quickly and returned to his shower.

He had been making a list of the people he'd slept with, to see how close he was to the number 20 and the inevitable doom that followed. Right now was getting ready to go back to his family home for a small gathering with his brothers and sisters before the stag night and hen-do this evening. Not that Castiel wanted to go at all, but he was doing this for Anna.

At least Lucifer wasn’t attending today so hopefully everything would run smoothly before the inescapable vast alcohol consumption that came with any night out arranged by Gabriel and Balthazar.

Castiel slipped out of the shower and dried off quickly. He picked up the personally tailored suit that was his outfit for today. It was nice. A dark navy jacket with a thin pinstripe, matching trousers, paired with a thick, white, cotton button-down and a silky blue tie. Typical of Michael to pick out something as overly extravagant as a tailored suit that was only be worn for a matter of hours. It was better than letting Gabriel pick something out, he supposed.

Castiel walked out of his apartment, closed the door behind him and started to make his way down the five floors of stairs, onto street level.

“Hey, where are you going? Somewhere fancy?”

Castiel looked up the gap in the center of the spiral staircase so see Dean’s smiling face poking over the edge of the banister outside their apartments. He had a teasing twinkle in his eyes and Castiel could tell he wasn't really interested, just trying to catch his attention and probably make him even later than he already was. Castiel continued to plod down the stairs, reluctant to carry on and socialize with his brothers.

“To a family gathering if you must know,” Castiel called up the stairs towards Dean, “It’s my sister’s wedding in three weeks’ time.”

“Not you that’s getting married then?” mused Dean

Castiel raised an eyebrow.

“No. Do you have anything of import you would like to say? Because I would rather not be late.” His deep voice echoed around him, bouncing off the concrete walls.

 “Nope. See you around Castiel.” Dean winked and sauntered out of view.

 


	2. Of All The Gin Joints In All The Towns...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel has given up on trying to figure out how Dean knew his name, he had only found out Dean’s by accident. He wouldn't of put it past him to of rifled through the tenant records, but it doesn't matter anyway, it was just a name, wasn't it?

Castiel has given up on trying to figure out how Dean knew his name, he had only found out Dean’s by accident. He wouldn’t of put it past him to of rifled through the tenant records, but it doesn’t matter anyway, it was just a name, wasn’t it?

~

Castiel stepped out of the taxi and onto the gravel drive that led up to his family home.  He could already hear the faint drone of people taking coming from inside. He watched his taxi pull out, smoothed down his jacket and scurried over to the open front door.

“Castiel! You’re here!”

He turned round to see his eldest brother, Michael, walking towards him at a steady pace. He reached him and extending out his right hand to shake. Castiel took it warmly and gave a quick smile.

“Good morning Michael.”

Michael stepped back and gave Castiel a once over. He reached out and tried to smooth down Castiel’s hair, even Castiel hadn’t quite got the hang of taming his wild dark brown mop.

“Why aren’t you wearing the suit I picked out for you?” Michael questioned.

Castiel looked down, he’d definitely put on the right one.

“I.., I am.” Castiel stuttered.

“Oh, well it looks quite different on you now than it did in the shop.”

Castiel nodded in response.

“Where’s……Nathan?” Michael asked, a hint of caution in his voice.

“Nathaniel, and he couldn’t make it today. He has some business to attend to.”  Replied Castiel, constantly hoping that Michael would drop it. He had never been overly approving of Castiel’s lifestyle, wanting him to get a proper job, find a nice girl and live happily ever after. And Castiel had found out the hard way that those things just don’t happen in real life.

“Is Anna upstairs?” he questioned, at least it was a good excuse to escape this conversation.

“Yes, the anxiety of this marriage is finally starting to set in, but she’s with Gabriel, actually I’m not sure he’s helping to be honest, so please.” Michael indicated for him to go up the stairs towards the bedrooms and Castiel quickly complied.

“Oh and cousin Ion is here!” Michael called out after him.

“Step-Cousin! We’re not even related!” Castiel shot back and he hurried up the stairs. He took out his notepad and quickly wrote down the name. Oh god, he couldn’t even believe that had happened.

 

~

 

“Anna? Gabriel?”

“We’re in here!” Came the quick reply, somewhere off to the right, near the bathroom.

Castiel followed the shout until he came face to face with Gabriel viciously trying to unjam and pull up the zip at the back of Anna’s dress. Gabriel turned to look at him as Castiel crossed the room towards them.

“Bro! Glad you’re here! Are you ready for tonight?” said Gabriel as he continued to pull viciously at the metal zip. Anna turned her head to look over her shoulder at what Gabriel was doing and then shook her head.

“Gabriel, please be careful, Michael picked this specially.”

“I hardly think tonight is of import at the current time,” Castiel replied to Gabriel, “We still have today to get through first. Here, let me” Castiel gently nudged Gabriel out of the way so he could get his hands to the beautiful red dress the Anna was wearing. He pulled the zip all the way down and then back up again, making sure that any excess fabric was out of the way. It slid up smoothly.

“See?” Castiel said, turning to look at Gabriel as he went and sat in an armchair in the corner of the room and raised an eyebrow. “How are you Anna, anyway?”

“Fine I guess,” She replied as she curled her eyelashes in the mirror in front of her, “Michaels been getting more and more flustered about the wedding every day and has been a total dick ever since Constantine’s family got here though. I think it just brings back memories of a properly functioning family, complete with parents and all siblings to be honest. I think it makes him feel inadequate.”

Castiel leaned back in the chair, glancing at Gabriel, who was leaning against the wardrobe as Anna spoke. Their family had never really _been_ a family, he couldn’t even remember having a mother and after his father had died when he was 12, Michael had taken over the role of being head of the family, much to Lucifer’s distaste. Castiel had tried to stay out of it but somehow he always got dragged into it, and after Michael had caught him kissing one of his teenage fling boyfriends in his bedroom, he had somehow inadvertently sided with Lucifer. Michael hadn’t taken his ‘accidently outing’ that well, but Lucifer welcomed it, most likely perceiving it as an opportunity to get back at Michael by taking his once obedient soldier and working him up only to watch him turn into something else.

Castiel shook his head, this was Anna’s day and he wasn’t going to spoil it by dwelling on old memories and causing a scene, he had more important things to do.

Well. Actually he didn’t, but whatever.

 

“At least Lucifer’s coming to the actual wedding so he’ll have someone else to focus his hatred on.” Castiel offered.

“Ah about that-” Gabriel started.

Anna swung round on the door frame of the bathroom, of which she had just entered, to face Castiel.

“Lucifer’s not coming to the wedding Castiel, Michael won’t let me invite him here.”

Castiel stopped. He could understand Michael not speaking to Lucifer and not inviting him to family meals but banning him from _Anna’s wedding?_ Castiel thought that was probably a step too far, it wasn’t even Michael’s wedding, it was Anna’s and it was her choice.

“Oh, are you going to invite him anyway?”

Castiel could see Gabriel rolling his eyes at him from the corner of the room. The only time Gabriel has the courage to stand up to Michael was when their father was brought into discussion, and that was still only about carrying out his wishes. Castiel had learnt that standing up to Michael wasn’t that hard, especially with the rebellious brother backing you up, although it did come with some consequences.

“Err, I still don’t know, I haven’t decided yet.” Anna replied.

 

“Gabriel, what was Creepy Justin Bieber Guy’s actual name?” Castiel queried, hoping that Gabriel would be able to answer without a long discussion now that Anna had left the room. He was still writing this goddamn list of his previous partners, it wasn’t like he wanted to sort through all his painfully bad sexual experiences, but he couldn’t work out the number by memory alone. It wasn’t like he’d been counting, not that he thought he needed to, until now.

“You mean Thaddeus?” Gabriel said, “The guy who lived down the road and was obsessed with me? Because I had ‘perfect blonde hair’ or something? I was afraid he was going to cut all mine off at one point to make into a wig so he wouldn’t have to keep bleaching his.”

“Yeah, thank you Gabriel.” Muttered Castiel as he wrote down the name in his small notebook that he had kept hidden in the inside pocket of his jacket.

“What are you writing bro?” smirked Gabriel as he leaned over the armchair to peek at Castiel’s writing.

“Nothing!” Castiel snapped, as he quickly shut the covers of his notebook only to have it snatched out of his hands by Gabriel’s curious fingers.

Gabriel backed up to the wall behind him, quickly shuffling the pages to find the latest one that Castiel had been writing on. Castiel leaped after him, in a desperate attempt to conceal his obsession that had been festering ever since he read that magazine article.  

“What the hell Cassie? Why is there a list of all these dudes, most of them being your exes and- oh shit.” Gabriel looked down at Castiel with wide eyes from where he’d stopped trying to grab the book and was left kneeling on the ground by Gabriel’s feet, clutching at his forearms. Gabriel wasn’t stupid, and Castiel had done a good job of gathering all the evidence before laying it out before him and waiting for Gabriel to connect the dots.

“Seriously I knew you went off the rails but really? _Thaddeus?_ Did you really sink that low? And _Ion?_ Your own cousin? Ew, man that’s creepy.” Gabriel flipped the book into the air only for it to land in front of Castiel. He turned and sat on the edge of the double bed.

“Step-cousin, we’re not even related.” Castiel muttered from where he sat slumped on the floor.

“What is up with all of this anyway?” Gabriel questioned.

“There was an article in a magazine and-”

“Cassie you realise none of the best stories start with the sentence ‘article in a magazine’ right?”

“96% of people who have had 20 or more sexual partners can’t find a spouse.” Castiel said finally while he rubbed his hands over his weary eyes. “And I don’t want to be in that majority.”

Gabriel sighed, “You have Balthazar for a brother and you’re seriously worrying about how many people you’ve slept with?”

“Balthazar doesn’t count, he’s in a long term relationship now and everybody knows he didn’t always sleep with them, just tease them enough to keep them running after him. You know he loved the attention.”

Castiel picked up the book and slowly started to count up each name he had scribbled down.

“Nineteen. I’m at nineteen.” Groaned Castiel.

“It doesn’t matter Cassie, I’m sure you’ll find someone soon. And who cares anyway? Who even did that study, the scientist at that crappy magazine?” Gabriel said in an attempt to comfort him.

“The study was conducted by Doctor Helen Figg, a post-doctoral fellow at Harvard University.”

“Ah.” Gabriel stood up and plucked the book out of Castiel’s hand, “Well I did always say if you’re too sexually available, it will mess with your self-esteem and the next thing you know you’re 45, no self-respect, no husband and no muscle tone in your pelvic floor.”

Castiel turned to look at his brother.

“Not helping”

“I know bro, I was only teasing.” Gabriel ruffled his hair, “But if I were you I’d take this as a hint to buckle down and find yourself someone nice. Someone you can take to the wedding.”

“Gabriel, shut up about the wedding, Michael isn’t going to like whoever I bring so you might as well forget about it.”

“Screw Michael! Take whoever you want!”

Castiel looked up, this the first time he had heard Gabriel say anything against Michael, let alone for him.

“You seem to forget that I haven’t had the best luck in finding a good partner, and I doubt I’ll be able to find someone by then, it’s in three weeks’ time!” Castiel huffed, there was no point in him looking now, and there was no chance that he’d find a guy by then,

“Have you ever thought that maybe one of your previous boyfriends is worth having a second chance?”

~

The throb of dance music beat around him as Castiel and the other members of the stag party entered the bar.

Gabriel burst past him and rushed over to the nearest table, quickly indicating for the rest to join him. His sisters fiancé, Constantine, was hurriedly pushed forward and forced into a chair by an over excited Balthazar. Castiel sighed and walked over to join them. Gabriel already leaning forward onto the sticky table to reiterate tonight’s plans.

“Right, beers for now and then shots later. We get drunk and hit the town, hopefully disturbing as many uptight, prude, pretentious whatevers as possible. Oh and we need to get at least one of us properly smashed so we have some funny stories to tell the grand-kids, right Conny?”

Constantine blinked and nodded his head with approval, Castiel could tell he was regretting letting Gabriel and Balthazar organise tonight already, maybe he’d loosen up after a couple of beers.

“Castiel, go get us something to drink?” Balthazar chimed in. Just on cue.

He stood up and walked over to the bar where he sat down on a stool and waited for the bartender to turn around so he could catch his eye and get the beers. The bartender currently had his back to Castiel as he served another person at the other end of the bar.

As he turned to face his next client Castiel did a double take, he recognised that face, framed with messy light brown hair and enchanting green eyes. The only difference was that it had been only his face that he had seen, poking over the stairwell of their apartment building just twelve hours previous.

Their eyes locked and the other man grinned.

“Hey! 6C right?” Dean exclaimed, his eyes twinkling in the dim lighting as he dried off his hands on the bar towel which he proceeded to flip over his left shoulder.

Castiel blinked, startled by the surprise encounter. “Uh, yeah. Just opposite you.”

“Yeah, I remember. Cas right?”

“Castiel. So do you work here then?” Castiel glanced back to the table where his brothers were sitting, seemingly oblivious to his absence, but it was only so long Gabriel would notice his lack of alcohol.

“Yeah, I work here from time to time, friends with the owners I suppose. Ellen and Bobby practically raised me and I helped them at the Roundhouse when they need it, like at the weekends when its chock full of groups begging for the tequila.” Dean had started to lean further onto the bar, resting on his forearms, towards Castiel when he stood upright suddenly. “Which, considering I’m talking about my job, I’d better do it right? I presume you came here to get some drinks rather than get lost in my glow.” Dean smirked as he took out some glasses.

 “Mmm, yes of course” Castiel released a small smile and rolled his eyes at Dean. “Four beers, whatever you have on the tap.”

“No pretty please then?” Dean raised an eyebrow as he started to fill the glasses. “Ok, perhaps not. Who are you here with then?”

Castiel wondered how he kept up the flirting all the time, he obviously did it to everyone but surely it was just _exhausting_. Castiel had learnt that he didn’t have much of a talent in the way of seducing and just tried his luck at throwing himself at people who seemed available.

“My brothers, it’s for a stag night.”

“Ah yes I remember, your sister’s wedding, in three weeks’ time, do-you-have-anything-to-say because-I-really-need-to-go. That one?” Dean chuckled, mimicking Castiel’s attempt to get Dean to leave his alone this morning.

“Yes, that one.” Castiel mumbled.

Dean pushed the drinks over and Castiel took two and walked over to his table.

“Ah finally, the drinks.” Gabriel muttered, “Who’s the hottie you’re talking to over there?” He continued, rather a bit too loud for Castiel’s comfort.

He returned to the bar and collected the remaining two drinks and caught Dean’s eye again.

“Me? A hottie?” Dean clasped his chest in fake surprise, “Tell your friend over there he needs his eyes checking, my body far surpasses the level of ‘hottie’. I’m a goddamn sex god.”

Castiel once again rolled his eyes as he made his way across the room back to his brothers and sat down.

The conversation switched quickly between subjects, aided by the alcohol Castiel was sent to go and get, nearly every time receiving a flirty wink from Dean. Castiel was growing tired and generally want to escape from the boring lull of pointless discussion between his brothers.

“Cassie!” Gabriel’s voice quickly brought Castiel back into the present, “ _Shots.”_

Castiel stumbled across the room to lean on the bar, Dean turning to face him.

“Hey, so what’s next for you and your bros?”

“Gabriel wants shots, I don’t really care what.” Castiel leant back against the bar facing the room, listening the sound of Dean behind the bar when someone knocked into him, sending him swaying to the right in his tipsy state.

“Of all the gin joints in all the towns…”

Castiel twisted round to see Bartholomew grinning at him and leaning against the bar, he turned back to where Dean was filling up the shot glasses.

“Of all the clichés in all of the worlds.”

Bartholomew looked down at the glasses rapidly being filled with the clear liquid.

“Wow, I didn’t realise you were going to take getting fired so hard.” He joked.

“I don’t have to laugh at your jokes anymore because _you’re not my boss_.” Castiel smiled and glanced back at Bartholomew.

“Let me buy you these drinks, I feel bad about today.”

“Really?” Castiel lowered head, fighting a grin as he saw Dean roll his eyes, “Thanks, I can’t’ afford them anyway.”

“Can I be honest with you? You never seemed to like marketing anyhow-“

“I liked it, I-“

“Yes but you didn’t love it.” Bartholomew interrupted.

“I guess I did you a favour, now you can go and do something you enjoy with a boss you, er,” Bartholomew shrugged, “Like.”

“I like you.” Castiel answered, confused, he didn’t think he ever gave off the hate vibe, maybe the vaguely disgusted but not one that made it seem like he didn’t like Bartholomew.

“Really?” Bartholomew frowned. “How much?”

Castiel turned to look at him as Dean slid the shots across the bar into his reach, Bartholomew had a teasing twinkle in his eye and was leaning closer, over the tray, into Castiel’s personal space his breath warm on Castiel’s cheek.

Castiel picked up the tray of shots and swung round to return to the table. No. Bartholomew was creepy and 20 was his limit, and unless he was going to marry Bartholomew he had to stay away. He was already at 19 and Gabriel had sparked an idea in his mind, that maybe one of his exes really might deserve a second chance.

He set the shots down on the table, much the Balthazar’s joy who eagerly place one in front of each of the men.

“Who was that at the bar Cassie?” he questioned.

“Oh,” Castiel glanced back at Bartholomew who was rooting through his wallet, obviously trying to pay for their drinks after finding out Castiel had bought the whole bottle. Well he had offered to pay for it so it wasn’t like he had tricked him or anything.

“That’s my boss, Bartholomew.”

“The creepy one? And he’s still coming onto you?”

“I didn’t even realise he liked me.” Castiel shrugged.

“Cassie nooooo, your numberrrr” Gabriel slurred, giggling from the other side of the table.

Constantine and Balthazar glanced at him with questioning looks as Castiel placed his head in his hands.

“Cassie been a slutttt.” Constantine and Balthazar continued to look bewildered as Castiel indicated to Dean for more shots.

~

“Yes that is why I’m not going to sleep with anyone. The next person I do, will be my husband.”

“It’s not legal in Kansas yet Cassie.” Balthazar interrupted, “Plus I think this is a good idea, you go find someone you respects you.”

“Long-term partner then, whatever.” Castiel sighed as he picked up his next shot.

“Right I’m going to make a proclamation.” This was interrupted by loud cheers from the other end of the room.

“Shut up I’m proclamating!” Castiel shouted.

“Okay, I am not going to sleep with another guy until I am sure he is the _one_.”

“Also good luck to Conny for marrying our sister.” Gabriel mumbled from where he was sat, slouched in his chair.

They clinked glasses and downed the shots as Castiel waved his hand for another round.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading, I'm sorry there isn't much Dean but there will be as the story progresses. I promise!


	3. Here We Go Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “But…Congratulations! You said 20 is your husband, so I guess you found him Cassie!” Gabriel smirked, “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it to happen this fast but I’m so excited.”

Castiel woke to the sensation of someone’s hand slapping across his face. He sat up with a start, dislodging the arm across his head and quickly rubbing his eyes to clear his vision. He turned his head, slowly, fearful of what he might see lying next to him.

“Bartholomew?” Castiel whispered in surprise, leaning down and squinting at the familiar face, just to make sure.

Castiel couldn’t understand how he had got to his apartment, the memories from last night were blurred. Paired with the dull throbbing at his temples, Castiel could tell he had drunk too much.

He sat up again, pushing the sheets down from where they had covered his chest, glad to see he still had his underwear on and jumped back when his eyes locked with the purple bruises scattered across his chest. Castiel leapt to his feet, allowing him to see all of Bartholomew stretched across his bed, void of clothes below his waist.  
Oh shit.

Castiel grabbed his phone from where it lay on his bedside table and scuttled across the room towards his bathroom, pulling on a shirt as he went. Muttering curse words as he stabbed at the buttons on his phone, Castiel managed to find the right contact and sank to the floor behind the bathroom wall as it began to ring.

“Hello?” Gabriel’s familiar voice echoed down the telephone line.

“I slept with my ex-boss.” Blurted Castiel, clutching the phone to his ear, eager to hear at least something from his brother.

“Naomi?"

“No! The job I just got fired from!” Castiel drew his hand over his face in despair as he realised that he still hadn’t told Gabriel about getting fired from the office.

“You got fired?” Gabriel’s voice was becoming more and more confused by the minute.

“This is your fault!” Castiel muttered, “I should never have gone to that bar in the first place!”

“When I tried to get you to leave the bar last night you hissed at me and kept swishing that dirty trench coat of yours in my face. Sound effects included.”

Castiel cringed at the forgotten memory, which was probably for the best.

“But…Congratulations! You said 20 is your husband, so I guess you found him Cassie!” Gabriel smirked, “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting it to happen this fast but I’m so excited.”

Castiel groaned, Gabriel’s sarcasm was the least he needed right now.

He heard as Gabriel turned away from the phone and shout to someone obviously in the house with him.

“Hey Balthazar! Cassie’s getting married!” and a muffled reply of “What?” from Balthazar.

“He’s thrilled.” Gabriel continued.

“I know your just being a bitch but maybe he is my husband!” Castiel could hear Gabriel giggling down the phone, which only made him more defiant to prove him wrong.

“Maybe its fate! Now we’ll have a great story to tell our grandkids!” Castiel replied optimistically, it could work out he supposed.

Castiel poked his head round the door frame to watch Bartholomew as he got out of Castiel’s bed ad pulled on his jeans.

“I don’t know why I never considered him before.” He looked Bartholomew up and down and had to admit he wasn’t bad looking.

Bartholomew adjusted his belt before slipping his hand underneath the thin layer of his underwear and into his crotch before pulling his hand out again and lifting them to his face. He raised his index and middle finger to his nose while breathing in deeply. Castiel’s head whipped back round the corner to face his shower, a look of disgust on his face.

“He’s not my husband.”

~

 

Castiel paced back and forth across his room to the sound of running water coming from his bathroom. He heard the door open behind him as Bartholomew stepped out.

“Morning!”

Castiel replied the same as he took in the situation around him. Not one he particularly wanted to be in.

“You’re out of toilet paper.” Bartholomew stated as he slipped past Castiel.

“Okay…” said Castiel, shifting on his feet.

“Ooh, did you make coffee?” Bartholomew turned round and stopped as he walked towards Castiel’s kitchen.

“No, but there’s a Starbuck’s on your way to the office?” Castiel suggested hopefully.

“Oh that’s ok, did you get the newspaper?” Bartholomew continued his way to the kitchen and opened Castiel’s fridge, leaning down and peering inside.

“No, no, I don’t get that,” Castiel replied. There was a sharp knock and Castiel turned round to look at his apartment door.

He walked over and tugged at the handle.

“Morning 6C.” Castiel was greeted by a familiar pair of bright green eyes as a newspaper was thrust into his hands.

Castiel glanced down at the paper in his arms and, recalling what he had just told Bartholomew, threw it across the hallway.

“That’s not mine.”

“Um, okay…” Dean glanced back to the abandoned newspaper and then darted around Castiel and into his apartment, “I just locked myself out of my apartment, my keys, their, um, everything is over there…” Dean drawled off as he pushed Castiel into his apartment and shut the door behind him.

 

Castiel stood there for a moment before clicking onto what Dean had just said.

 

“Sure, I’ll just get that for you,” He spoke in a fake cheerful voice as he stumbled down the steps by his door and into his bedroom as he called from the other room, “Okay,

Bartholomew, why don’t we talk later, 6A has just got stuck out of their apartment and they really need my help.”

Castiel grabbed his apartment keys from the bedside table and shuffled back into the living area.

“Dean.”

“Bartholomew.”

The pair shook hands as they both glanced at Castiel who was just entering the room. They carried on shaking for an inappropriately long period of time, Castiel cringing at the awkwardness, before they finally let go.

“Yeah…” muttered Dean as he withdrew.

“So,” Bartholomew started to approach Castiel and grabbed his elbows as Castiel drew his arms up to his chest, clutching at his set of keys, “How about dinner tonight?”

“Tonight, tonight?” Castiel squeaked, tugging subtly at his arms, trying to free them from Bartholomew’s grip.

“Oh, er,” Dean interrupted, only to be met with confused glances from the pair across the room.

“We have that tenants meeting tonight.” He looked down at the floor, a smile creeping on the edge of his lips as he snapped his fingers, and sighing at Castiel’s apparent loss.

“That’s right!” Castiel agreed, nodding his head vigorously.

“The tenants meeting. Ugh. We’re trying to get this very loud bird evited.” Castiel’s voice sang with sarcasm.  
Castiel pulled his arms from Bartholomew in one swift motion, and took a step backwards. He glanced at Dean to see him grinning, he was looking at the ceiling as he nodded and raised his eyebrow with question at Castiel’s lie.

“I’ll call you. Later.” Castiel pushed at Bartholomew’s shoulder, steering him in the direction of the door.

“And maybe we can figure out a different time, which we can, um, get together.” He continued to push Bartholomew up the couple of steps to his apartment door as they passed Dean.

“Okay.”

As Castiel opened the door Bartholomew crowded him against it, pressing his warm lips to his. He placed his hands on Castiel’s upper arms and gripped him tightly as he pushed is tongue into Castiel’s mouth. Castiel was still too shocked to move as Bartholomew started to slide him up the wall to become level with his face. Castiel’s feet wiggled, weightless in the air just before Bartholomew dropped him to the floor and grinned. He swept out the door and rushed down the stairs of the apartment building.

“Bye.” Castiel grabbed the door handle just as the apartment door opposite opened to reveal a ruffled woman, looking fairly forlorn, just stepping out of Dean’s flat.

Castiel heard a scurry of feet behind him as Dean dashed across the room.

The woman closed the door and began to make her way down the stairs.

Castiel swung the door shut behind him as he turned to glare at Dean, who was hiding behind one of the structural poles in his living room.

“Hey!” Castiel lock eye contact with Dean who had scrunched up his face in an attempt to hide from both the woman and Castiel.

“Do you think the woman coming out of your apartment could have helped with the being locked out problem?”

Dean chuckled and turned his head to face the wall away from Castiel and breathed in deeply. 

“Okay,” Dean turned around again and pressed his chest against the pole, wrapping his arm around it.

“I had a little situation,” Dean grinned again and drummed his fingers against the pipe, “That I needed to get out of, no unlike your situation here…”

Dean gestured towards him and as Castiel walked over into his kitchen to open the fridge.

“So, lie to her and lie to me?” Castiel took out a bottle of milk, and then leant against the fridge, looking at Dean.

“I see it as trying to avoid her feelings.” Dean suggested, a playful smile spread across his face, his eyes slid down Castiel until they locked with something just above his hip.

Castiel glanced down, embarrassed and tugged at the frayed hem of his shirt to try and cover the hickey.

Dean raised his eyebrows, eyes twinkling mischievously as he turned away and started to wander around Castiel’s apartment scrutinizing the artwork on the walls.

“These are pretty cool, where did you get them?” Dean was eyeing up one of Castiel’s oil paintings.

“I painted it.”

Dean spun around quickly, looking shocked.

“No shit!”

“Shit.” Castiel replied flatly.

“Listen, I don’t want to have any more to do with your crusade to sleep with every woman in Kansas okay? They’re kinda like my sisters.” Castiel joked, it was kind of hypocritical for him to be complained about Dean’s sleeping habits.

“Mmm, I thought you’d be cooler than this. Not just weird ass angel paintings, though marvellous as they are, and deadpan remarks.” Dean strolled up and down the walls, looking at more of Castiel’s paintings.

“Saw that toast you made on YouTube, thought you’d have a better sense of humour.”

“Those dicks put my toast on YouTube?” Castiel exclaimed, “How did you see it already?”

Castiel guessed that Dean must be referring to one of the many speeches he was starting to recall from last night’s adventures.

“Oh, I got everyone in the building on Google Alert.” Dean smirked, indicating with his hands to the surrounding apartments as he started to walk towards the door.

“Come from a family of cops, it’s in my nature to dig up dirt.”

Castiel started to smile as he turned to follow Dean to the door.

“Guy in 4D?” Dean took hold of the door handle and he looked at Castiel, grinning, “Tried to marry his dog.”

“No? Henrikson?” Castiel questioned, looking shocked, and now slightly concerned about who he should trust in the building now due to the new information that has come to light.

“Yep!” Dean pressed his eye to the peep hole, looking out onto the corridor in between the apartments, “Okay. Looks like the coast is clear.”

Dean opened the door and stood in the door way, looking directly at Castiel, the corners of his eyes crinkling into a smile.

“Thank you, you’re a peach.” Dean’s smile broadened as Castiel rolled his eyes.

“And you’re a pig.” Castiel grinned as he turned round to the sound of the door closing behind him.

~

Castiel stabbed the overly pretentious looking cake with his fork and attempted to cut the square clump of sponge in half. When this failed he simply picked up the whole thing on the end of his fork and took a huge bite out of it before a cold hand wrapped around his wrist and tugged the cake away from his mouth sharply.

“Woah there Cassie, I think the idea is that you’re meant to taste the cakes not bury your face in them.”

Castiel was at a local bakery with Gabriel tasting cakes for Anna’s wedding because apparently she had enough things to do without having to pick out the flavour of her wedding cake. But Castiel wasn’t complaining.

“This is good.” Castiel stated as he took another bite out of the cake sample, nodding furiously.

“Yeah, maybe you should slow down a bit and actually taste them?” Gabriel raised his eyebrows and gestured towards the other 15 cake samples on the table, of which they had to pick out one.

“No-one’s ever going to see me naked again, I might as well enjoy myself.” He muttered as he took another bite of the cake, “Why can’t she just go with a simple flavour like vanilla, instead of force-feeding us stupid ones like rose? What does rose even taste like? I don’t know and I’m eating it!”

Castiel threw down his fork in defiance and sat back in his chair.

“You didn’t seem to be complaining.” Gabriel smirked and he wrote down something obviously about the strawberries and cream sample he was tasting. Who even takes notes about wedding cake?

“And like you’re going to be celibate, anyway Cassie.”

“I don’t have a choice Gabriel! I said I would stop at 20 and now that’s to that finger-smelling fuck I am!” Castiel picked up the fork again and started caving his way into another cake. “Just promise that you won’t put me at the singles table with you and Michael?”

Gabriel looked up from his notebook to give Castiel a guilty expression.

“Seating’s really complicated at the moment.”

Castiel groaned and slumped forward onto the table, taking care not to knock the plates, just as the chime of the shop’s bell above the door made Castiel peek up from where his face was buried in his arms.

“Wait…” Castiel sat up sharply now and was squinting at the man and woman that had just walked into the wedding bakery.

“Does that guy look familiar to you?”

Gabriel glanced up at the man, quickly surveying him and shook his head, yet Castiel was sure he had seen the man before who was now looking at the cakes, the woman hanging onto his arm with every step.

Castiel gasped and brought a hand up to his mouth to silence it.

“Domiel!” Castiel whispered in surprise, “It’s Disgusting Domiel!”

Gabriel looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

“I dated him.” Castiel explained as he glanced back towards Gabriel before returning his gaze to the man across the shop.

Castiel heard as his brother scoffed in surprise and turned to look at him.

“Did I ever meet him?” he questioned, still smiling.

 

“No, no, nobody did.” He turned back to the man and looked him up and down, he looked so much better now, it was a shame Castiel only knew him before.

 

“He’s the reason I learnt to cook.” Castiel muttered.

“That guy doesn’t look disgusting at all,” Gabriel stated, “In fact, he’s kinda cute.”

Gabriel nudged Castiel with his elbow, wiggling his eyebrow suggestively. It was a common factor between both Gabriel and Balthazar when it came to talking about Castiel’s previous relationships.

“I know, but I really think it’s him.” Castiel looked harder at the man, trying to compare this him with the overweight, and fairly disgusting Domiel that Castiel remembered him as.

“Well,” Gabriel pushed Castiel out of his chair, but he regained his feet quickly, not wanting to cause a scene.

“Go say hi.” Gabriel turned back to his notes leaving Castiel standing awkwardly in the middle of an empty bakery.

~

Castiel shuffled along the back wall of the bakery, paying close attention to every display cake he saw, edging closer to Domiel. Castiel turned and walked towards him, pretending not to recognise him until he looked up and made eye contact with Domiel. It was definitely him.

“Castiel?” Domiel took a step towards him, looking surprised.

“Domiel?” Castiel copied Domiel’s surprise hoping that his would look genuine. “It is you!”

“Oh my gosh,” Domiel chuckled and leant on a table next to him. “Hi!”

“Hi! I can’t believe it!” Castiel stepped back to look at him again. You could really see how much weight he had lost up close.

“I cannot believe it.” He repeated.

Domiel chuckled again, smiling at the Castiel’s notice of his weight loss. He tugged on his jacket to wrap it round his stomach to indicate to space.

“Well…” he added, smiling again, just as the woman appeared behind Domiel, snaking a hand up onto his shoulder.

“Castiel, please meet my fiancé, Hael. Hael, this is Castiel.”

Hael leaned forward to shake Castiel’s hand, and he accepted it cautiously.

Hael was short and petite and was dressed in a dark blue summer dress and was smiling brightly, she was pretty, Castiel had to admit and he was happy for Domiel.

“Wow, so how did you guys meet?” Castiel attempted to start off the conversation to avoid the awkward one about Domiel’s and his past.

“At a conference.” Domiel and Hael said in unison. They turned to face each other and leaned in to kiss quickly on the lips.

“I mean can you believe it? She’s a rocket scientist.” Domiel said, he was obviously smitten with her and Castiel nodded with approval.

“No I’m not,” Hael swiftly interjected to correct him, “I’m just an engineer but he loves to say that.”

“You know, not the typical job for...”

“Ah, I get it!” Castiel interrupted, he really wasn’t in the mood to listen to her talk about how she was special because she did a job that was usually associated with men. It was good and all, but it didn’t make her special.

“Oh, yeah, Castiel and I are old friends.”

Old friends? Castiel was sure that they were more than that and it was quite rude for him to be so dismissive of their relationship but gave a small nod of agreement anyway.

“So, what are you doing here anyway?” Domiel smiled as he tried so change the subject in response to Castiel’s confused look.

“Oh I’m just tasting some cake,” Castiel glanced back at Gabriel, “for my wedding.”  
Damn it.  
And now the lies kept on coming, it wasn’t his fault, Domiel had made him feel lonely because he was single and it Bartholomew that had put him on edge after creeping into his bed.

“I’m marrying a scientist too! I’m just here with my brother today. As…”

And now was the time for Castiel to realise that it didn’t make sense for him to be marrying this imaginary guy, considering it wasn’t legal yet. His new spouse would have to be a woman, not that Castiel could care, he was open minded but had just always leaned towards men as his preference.

“As she’s up in the North Pole,” he always was the worst liar, “Dealing with that whole, melting icecap situation, you know?”  
Both Domiel and Hael nodded looking impressed, but slightly suspicious of Castiel’s extravagant tale.

“She’s probably going to fix it.”

~

“I can’t believe he said we were just friends!” Castiel stormed out of the bakery, quickly opening an umbrella over his head and walking out into the rain with Gabriel close behind.

“Like I was the embarrassment! He had man-boobs! Like proper hairy ones! I can’t believe he was even the same guy, he looks so good now. He even looks taller!”  
Gabriel was glancing at him sideways from where they walked side by side on the sidewalk, a small smile playing across his lips in response to Castiel’s childish manner.

“People get better with age, you’ve said yourself many times that Kali used to be a total bitch.” Gabriel attempted to comfort him, though not as effectively as he would have liked.

“People change.” He finished.

Castiel stopped and swung his head round to face Gabriel.

“You’re right,” Castiel stood in the middle of the sidewalk, people milling around him to get past.

“Gabe, you’re a genius. I don’t have to be celibate or go over 20!” Castiel head was spinning in circles now, he could believe he hadn’t thought of this before and it was the perfect solution.

“What? I don’t understand.” Gabriel stutter, clearing not catching onto Castiel’s train of thought.

“Domiel can’t have been my only Ex to have got better with time.” Castiel explained, eyes growing bright with eagerness.

Castiel saw as his idea clicked within Gabriel’s mind and he leaned forward to peck a kiss on his cheek.

“Huh! Okay, see you later bro!” Gabriel called after him as Castiel rushed down the street, excited to put his plan into action.


	4. Cut Through The Noise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Do you remember how you said you were good at digging up dirt? Do you think maybe I could pay you to find some people for me?”

Castiel sat down at his desk, placing his notebook on it and opened his laptop.

He started at the top of the list with the first name, Inias Milton. He quickly typed the name into the computer and started to read through the results, or attempted to anyway, Castiel wasn’t exactly a technology savvy person. He wasn’t surprised though when most of them referred to Inias’ father, he was a bit of a hotshot in the business world and was one of the reasons Castiel’s and Inias’ relationship hadn’t exactly worked out.

Inias had gone through college with him and they had become close, regardless of both of their family history, Inias having grown up with anything he could have possibly wanted and Castiel coming from a broken home and only being able to eat every day because one of his siblings went without.

Castiel scrolled through every possible source of information, even _Facebook_ , only to find out more about his Father, so he gave up and moved on.

“Mike Miller? Okay.” Castiel muttered as he typed in the next name and hit enter.

“Eleven million results?” Castiel threw his hands up in the air in protest, how was that even possible?

_Mike Miller from Lawrence, Kansas._

Eight million results.

_Mike Miller obsessed with Bruce Springsteen from Lawrence, Kansas_

Six million results.

_Mike Miller obsessed with Bruce Springsteen from Lawrence, Kansas, Big Balls, Tiny Penis_

“Holy shit.”

Castiel stabbed wildly at the keyboard as he was met with a flurry of porn advertisements and websites.

“Stop it! No!”

Castiel returned to smashing the keyboard after glancing at the screen briefly as many of the videos started to play. Finally they disappeared and Castiel took a deep breath, he hoped Dean wasn’t tracking his internet history as well.

And with that Castiel returned to making his way slowly down the list of, now, 20 men. Crossing out those that were in a relationship, married or were just the same as when Castiel had left them, excluding Bartholomew, but he had crossed him out anyway on a purely moral basis. Castiel circled the men that were worth a second chance and marked with a star those who Castiel merely couldn’t find as darkness drew around him as night fell.

~

 

As Castiel woke to the sound of rather irritating cartoon music as he peeled his face off his keyboard and blinked wearily. He looked up at his computer to still see the porn ads flashing across his screen as though desperately trying to get his attention.

 _“Balls”_ Castiel whispered as he continued to stare at the massive pair blinking furiously in the corner of the screen.

Castiel heard Dean’s muffled voice from the hallway, quickly jabbing his hand at the power button to shut down his laptop and, remembering his plans from last night, ran to his apartment door, stumbling in his half asleep state. He pressed his eye to the peep-hole and saw the door to Dean’s apartment opening, so he did the same and stepped out, waving the paper of names in his hand.

“Hey!”

Castiel stopped, from where he was about to walk over to Dean and dropped his hands to his side. If he wasn’t fully awake before, he certainly was now.

Dean was stood opposite only clutching a towel loosely around his crotch _again._ Did he walk round his apartment naked? Its wasn’t that Castiel minded really but whenever he was out of his apartment Dean always wore so many layers of clothing it was almost painful to look at. Well. Almost.

“Morning 6C.” Dean looked up from where he was picking up the newspaper outside his door, a half-eaten apple in one hand and started walk inside again.

Castiel cleared his throat and averted his eyes, as not to make Dean uncomfortable. He should probably ask later, not now, when Dean obviously has another girl he picked up last night inside.

“I can see that you have company, and,” Castiel cleared his throat again and carried on, “I just wanted to ask you a quick question.”

Castiel glanced up at Dean who was stood still in his doorway, an eyebrow raised in question.

“Do you remember how you said you were good at digging up dirt? Do you think maybe I could pay you to find some people for me?” Castiel lifted his arms and smiled hopefully, aware of how awkward a question it was.

“Sweetheart, if I’m gonna help you, you gotta give me more info than that.” Dean took a bite out of the apple and leant back against the door frame.

“It’s just some guys, that I’ve dated and-” Castiel shrugged again, he knew that Dean was okay with him being gay due to the fact he didn’t bat an eyelid to his situation his Bartholomew but he didn’t know if he would be comfortable with digging up Castiel’s old boyfriends.

“Oh you have herpes! That’s not a phone call you want to make.” The corner of Dean’s mouth twitched into a smile.

Castiel rolled his eyes once again, he found he was doing it more frequently, especially when he talked with Dean and threw his hands up in the air in exasperation.

“No! I just-” Castiel began to walk towards Dean, “I don’t know, I just think maybe one of these guys may be worth a second look.”

Castiel closed his eyes and held out the piece of paper for Dean to look at as he threw the newspaper into his apartment and stepped towards him. He bite into the red apple once again and peered down to look at the list.

Dean smacked his lips and slowly raised the towel from his waist to dab at his lips. Castiel eyes flicked down quickly and widened in surprise before he turned his head upwards immediately and stared at the ceiling guiltily.

Castiel heard a soft chuckle from the man next to him, so he turned to face him, looking nowhere but at Dean’s eyes.

“No.” Dean started to walk back into his own apartment, towel still raised to his face.

“I refuse to be part of this type of crazy, I do not know why these guys broke up with you and I need to protect them.” Dean finished, not breaking from the fake serious persona that had taken over his face.

Castiel opened his mouth in disbelief, still staring at Dean.

“What? Why do you assume they broke up with me?”

“Because,” Dean rested his shoulder on the door frame and leaned forward towards Castiel, “You seem like the type of guy to try and make a bad thing work.”

“Some people call that optimism?” Castiel attempted, over the noises of Dean smacking his lips, tasting the apple juice.

“I call it crazy.” Dean stated, pointing his finger at Castiel’s face.

Castiel stepped back out of Dean’s personal space and walked back over to his door.

“Well I’m sorry I asked!” That wasn’t fair, Dean was just being a douche now, deliberately. Castiel knew he shouldn’t have asked in the first place. “I knew you’d be a jerk!”

“Don’t be mad!” Dean called from across the hallway, winking “Doesn’t mean I don’t like you!”

Castiel slammed the door behind him and dumped the list of name of the table beside him and stood there for a moment, contemplating what he should do. Before he could get very far an idea popped into his head that made Castiel start in surprise, rush to the door and grab his trench coat that was hanging on a peg and run towards the door opposite.

“Dean! Dean! Quick Dean! Open up!” Castiel banged furiously on the door, pulling on his coat as he went.

Dean opened the door, looking confused as he too shrugged on a shirt. Castiel pushed past him into Dean’s apartment, nearly running into the tall, dark man that towered over Castiel as he exited Dean’s bathroom. Castiel recognised Dean’s AC/DC shirt that covered the man’s chest.

Castiel’s mouth formed a small ‘O’ as he stood there in front of the man, stunned, a million questions fleeting through his mind before he snapped out of it and ran towards a pair of Dean’s shoes he had spotted in the corner.

“Quick! Dean! We go to go, Mom fell in the shower!”

“What?” Castiel heard Dean reply as he turned round to follow Castiel with his gaze as he ran around Dean’s apartment picking up items of clothing that Dean was missing.

“Yeah! She’s at the hospital! She’s all-” Castiel discard the pair of underwear that were on top of Dean’s jeans, thank god Dean had put some on already, and bundled them up to his chest along with the pair of shoes. “Wet. We’ve got to get out of here, they’re drying her off right now as we speak!”

Castiel rushed over to where Dean was standing, hands in his hips, in front of the door and pushed the pile of clothes into Dean’s arms.

“I’m sorry, you seem like a really awesome person,” Castiel turned towards the other man, who was now sitting at the table by the kitchen, “I’m sure he’ll call you, but we gotta go! Come on!”

Castiel winked at Dean before pushing him out through the door and slamming it behind them.

~

 

Dean stumbled into Castiel’s apartment, a look of both amusement and annoyance spread across his face.

“Very impressive.” Dean shook his head in disbelief while he walked into the living area of Castiel’s apartment. Castiel hummed in recognition and followed him in.

“You help me track down my exes, I’ll help you escape yours.” Castiel stood in front of Dean, hands on his hips, not wanting to say any more about Dean’s due to the slight pink tinge on the top of his ears.

“What happened to protecting your _sisters?”_ Dean mused, glancing around Castiel’s apartment as if he hadn’t seen it before, smiling as he remembered the conversation with Castiel the other morning.

“If they can’t see you coming they deserve what they get.” Castiel shrugged off his coat and walked over to rehang it by the door again.

“Wow.” Dean was walking around the flat now, peering his head round the walls to get a good look at Castiel’s bedroom and kitchen. “This place really goes on and on, doesn’t it?”

Dean swivelled on the balls of his feet to face Castiel, and eyebrow raised and a small smile quirked on the edge of his lips. Castiel stood opposite, his face blank.

“And you can use my apartment to hide in.” Castiel sighed in realisation.

A large grin spread across Dean’s face and as he raised his arms as if to hug Castiel, dropping the pile of clothes onto the floor, his eyes twinkling with victory.

~

 

“Here you go sir.”

“Thank you.” Dean reached over the counter and took his baguette from the woman serving.

Dean and Castiel leant back against the bar of the deli that Dean had insisted on visiting because he was ‘starving’ and the burgers here were a ‘treasure’.

“So, here’s all the info I have on the guys. Names, most recent phone numbers-” Castiel glanced up at Dean who was taking deep bites out of his sandwich while carefully watching a woman in a particular short dress on the other side of the shop.  

“Hey!” Castiel elbowed Dean in the side and jabbed his finger at the piece of paper he was holding in his hand. Dean turned back to Castiel and shoved the sandwich in his mouth. “Addresses, find out whose alive, single and still in the mid-west.”

Castiel passed the paper to Dean who began to study it intently.

“Okay? I’ll take a car or a train but not a plane.” Castiel explained, he saw Dean nodding in agreement in the corner of his eye as he walked towards the door.

“I prioritised the list so start at the top.” Castiel stepped out onto the street, Dean following right behind him.

“Inias Milton? Is that the one that got away?” Dean questioned, mouth full of the numerous amounts of meat he had ordered in his sandwich.

“Well,” Castiel turned around again, shifting on his feet, “Something like that, his dad was also named Inias Milton and owns approximately half of Kansas so he should be pretty easy to find.”

Dean chewed slowly, looking slightly confused as he tucked the list of names into the pocket of his leather jacket.

“ _The_ Inias Milton? He may not be hard to find but I guarantee he’ll be hard to get to.” Dean squinted in the late morning sun and took another bite of his sandwich, “Do you not have a phone number, an address? Anything like that?”

“If I had that I wouldn’t need you!” Castiel stepped forward and pulled the list from Dean’s pocket, unfolding it and pointing at a different name.

“I _do_ know that Ezra Piper is on the fast track to becoming a senator. Oh and move Abner Kimble up to number three, he probably still works at Starbuck’s but he’s the best sex I’ve ever had.”

Castiel patted Dean on the shoulder and began walking down the street again, expecting Dean to follow suit.

“You haven’t had sex with me.” Dean smirked, as he began to walk behind Castiel.

“No, but I have had sex with other over confident, struggling musicians, so-” Castiel looked at Dean in the eyes, “I’m good.”

Dean looked slightly offended before carrying on talking, “What makes you think I’m a musician?”

“Guitar in your apartment, you dress like a horny teenager,” Castiel raised an eyebrow at Dean, and then continued as if it was easy, “I paid for that sandwich? Struggling musician.”

Castiel stopped at the edge of the pavement, waiting for a break in the traffic so he could cross. Dean caught up and stood next to him, still going over the list.

“What I don’t get is why go through all this trouble? Why not find yourself a new guy?” Dean glanced up at him, still slowly chewing through his sandwich.

“No. No new guys.” Castiel was quick to answer, he hoped Dean would let the conversation drop now, he really didn’t want to go through the process of explaining himself to him.

“Why not? New is always better than old.” Dean started to unwrap the rest of his sandwich before looking up at Castiel again.

“Of course you’d say that, I bet the longest relationship you’ve ever had is with that sandwich.” Castiel gestured to where it was in Dean’s hands, glad that he’d thought of a response that didn’t make it obvious that he didn’t want to have that conversation with Dean.

Dean’s eyes flicked up quickly to meet Castiel before returning to gaze longingly at the baguette in his hands. He raised it up so it was level with his mouth and carefully pushing the whole thing into his mouth. He twisted his head to the right and moaned softly, his eyes opening slightly to glance slyly at Castiel.

Castiel rolled his eyes and turned away quickly so Dean could not see the growing blush across his cheeks and began to walk off down the road.

_Dean just made out with a sandwich, in the middle of the street._

Castiel wished he could feel repulsed, but at least if Dean was flirting with him it meant he would probably track down the guys on the list.

Dean was left behind, standing alone and chewing slowly, eyes shining mischievously as they followed Castiel down the street.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers (kind of) for what happens in the rest of the fic in the comments, so be aware :)


	5. This Casual Arrangment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Castiel felt a vibration in his back pocket and he dug around to retrieve his phone. It was a text from Dean, he had written his number on the list of names so he could contact him when he found any of the exes. And he had.

Castiel entered the wedding boutique alongside Gabriel, Balthazar, of course Anna, and her friend Rachel. Anna dashed off up the stairs with her, eager to try on her wedding dress before the big day and show it off in front of her brothers.

They sat down on the armchairs outside the dressing rooms and listened to the rustling of the many layer of cream material. Castiel saw Gabriel turn his head towards a very dapper looking suit that was hung up on the wall across from them. It had a grey pinstripe blazer with matching trousers, paired with a cream shirt and a red tie and pocket handkerchief to match the wedding’s colour theme.

“Are you actually allowing us to look good at your wedding? Because I like that suit.” Gabriel called out to Anna.

“Bit boring for you I would of thought, no glitter or sequins?” Balthazar interrupted, leaning round to rest his head on Gabriel’s shoulder to get a good look at the suit.

Gabriel shoved Balthazar off and stabbed a finger at his chest, “Hey you’re the campest one here Balthy, you’re even more gay than Castiel and he’s, like, hella gay.”

Castiel was tempted to curl himself into a ball and go to sleep right where he was sitting, but instead he just covered his face with his hands and sighed deeply. He knew there was a reason he never went anywhere with both Gabriel and Balthazar.

“Hey! You know I’m all bark and not bite anyway Gabe.” Balthazar chucked, leaning back into his seat to reveal even more of his bare chest than his ridiculously low cut V-necks did anyway.

Anna pulled the curtain aside a little to get a look at what Gabriel and Balthazar were peering at.

“No? That’s Michael’s suit, those are yours.” Anna pointed to the wall behind them and the trio turned their heads to see the three suits hung low on the racks.

Castiel groaned as the dark red velvet jackets came into focus. Balthazar giggled in delight and dashed over to rub his face into the arms.

“I’m sorry Cassie, Michael picked them out, with Balthazar’s input of course, and I’m trying to keep him happy because I invited Lucifer to the wedding.”

The brothers exchanged a few worried glances before Castiel called out.

 

“Have you told him?”

“No, not yet…” Anna’s voice got higher as she trailed off.

Oh no, this was not good, and apparently Gabriel and Balthazar had realised that too due to how high their eyebrows were raised.

The pink dressing room curtain swung back as Anna stepped out, clad in a beautiful, strapless dress that flowed gracefully down to the floor, her red hair standing out against the pale fabric. Balthazar gasped and rushed forward to inspect her, just in front of Rachel who was walking out behind her.

“It’s beautiful!” Balthazar murmured, kneeling down to look at the large skirt. In the background Castiel and Gabriel rolled their eyes simultaneously.

“I love it!” Rachel squealed, clapping her hands. Anna gathered the skirt up in her hands and adjusted it in front on the mirror.

“That is a lot of poof.” Gabriel drawled from beside Castiel, and he had to agree, the dress was quite extravagant.

“The poof is what I like about it!” Anna replied, continuing to tidy her hair and arrange herself according to the mirror.

“But don’t you want to have wedding night sex with your dress still on?” Gabriel started towards her, nodding his thoughtfully.

“I don’t know, do I?” Anna turned gingerly, an eyebrow raised. It was one of the family traits, and Gabriel often picked Castiel up on it for doing it, even though he was one of the biggest contributors out of all of them.

“Yes.” Balthazar interjected, “Naughty bride, you do.”

“I’m just concerned with all those layers he’s not going to be able to find your vagina.” Gabriel stated, indicating towards the skirt.

Castiel, for the second time today, covered his face in his hands and took a deep breath. Why did Anna insist on taking those two everywhere? Why Anna, why? Rachel already looked as though she was about to be disembowelled and Castiel didn’t blame her.

“Pfft, I mean forget about 69.” Balthazar mused.

“She’s not going to 69!” Gabriel looked over at Balthazar incredulously.

“Why not?”

“Because she’s a grow woman! Sixty-nines are for when you’re 17 and you’re trying to cram everything it before your parents get home!”

Castiel felt a vibration in his back pocket and he dug around to retrieve his phone. It was a text from Dean, he had written his number on the list of names so he could contact him when he found any of the exes. And he had.

“Oh my god, he’s found Elijah Hants already.” Castiel whisper to himself, but of course Gabriel’s super hearing would have picked up on that.

“Wait, are you tracking down all of your ex-boyfriends so you don’t have to go over 20?”

“What?” Balthazar sat up quickly, eager to hear on the piece of gossip he had obviously missed out on.

“Think about it, if it works out with one of these guys then that means a whole period of my life wont of been wasted.” Castiel flicked through the messages on his phone, trying to avoid eye contact with either of his brothers and a very confused looking sister.

“Yes, but it didn’t work out with any of those guys because they were all wrong for you.” Gabriel adjusted the zipper at the back of Anna’s dress.

“Wait, Elijah Hants, wasn’t that the magician you dated?” Balthazar was beginning to catch the topic of the conversation. Oh My God.

Castiel turned his head towards Gabriel, his eyes wide and his mouth open, slowly recalling the memories of his punk phase.  
Castiel had met him at a bar where he soon discovered he had a soft spot for confidence dripping bartenders who was able to magic quarters out of your ear, or anywhere else for that matter. Castiel had taken to dark eyeliner and multiple facial piercings before their relationship ended abruptly.

~

Castiel slid into the booth opposite Dean, the loud electronic music pounding in his ears.

“Wow, you work fast.” This earned a sly smile from Dean and Castiel bobbed up and down energetically, looking for Elijah.

“Well, this one was easy. He has his own website, Super Sexy Magic.com” Dean looked at Castiel, his head quirked to the side and the corners of his eyes crinkling into a smile.

Castiel nodded, trying not to be too put down by the absolute douchebag Elijah obviously still was.

“Well, I’m sure I’ll be able to find him so you can scoot and skedaddle.” Dean took a swig of the beer in front of him then set it down.

“And miss the show?” A small smile slipped across his face again and he pointed over to the bar, Castiel followed his gaze to a rather ordinary looking man, waving his hands theatrically around a woman’s face. He looked nothing like the hard core emo, with long dyed black hair and lip piercing that Castiel remembered him as.

The man flicked his wrist above the woman’s ear to reveal a shiny silver coin, Castiel heard Dean chuckled behind him and turned to see his leant back against the seat, eyes squinted shut and he pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

“Nope. I’m done here.” Castiel got up and started to make his way through the crowds to the door.

“That’s it?” Dean took a last drink from his beer before grabbing his leather jacket and racing out the door after Castiel.

“Why? Because he’s a bartender?” Dean slowed to a walk and shrugged on his jacket as he reached Castiel.

“No, because he’s still a bartender.” Castiel explained, walking down the dark street, a breast from Dean. “He’s exactly how he was nine years ago! An out of work magician who sleeps till noon, bartends till three and goes around pulling money out of people.”

“He keeps your quarter by the way.” Castiel added for good measure.

“So what? You could have had some fun for old time’s sake!” Castiel glanced back at the bar but carried on walking.

“You know, even if it didn’t raise my number, I still can’t afford to waste my time on guys like him-”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Dean interrupted, grabbing Castiel’s arm, forcing him to stop and face Dean.

“That’s what this is about? You don’t want to raise your number.” Dean stood up straight, a look of realisation visible across his face, while he shook it in disbelief. “That’s why you won’t sleep with me.” Dean crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself.

Castiel took a step backwards, looking shocked.

“Hey I swing both ways, you know that after you burst into my apartment so we could visit mom in hospital because she fell in the shower?! Remember?” Castiel did.

“What? No! There are a lot of reasons why I won’t sleep with you.” Castiel turned around again and carried on walking, but he could only think of not increasing his number.

“No, there’s not.” Dean leant forward and whispered in his ear, Castiel shrugged him off and quickened his pace.

“I don’t get why you care so much about increasing your number anyway.” Dean became level with Castiel again, his hands tucked away in his jacket pockets.

 

“Everybody has their ideal partner in their minds and if my number gets too high, I can’t be that guy.”

“Mmm, the ideal partner? Describe them to me.”

“You know, you can take them home to the family, the ones that are smart but not smarter than you, they bake apple pies and play catch with your handicapped sister but then when you’re alone they take off their glasses and fucks you sideways.” Castiel stopped, realised he had got slightly carried away.

“One, that person doesn’t exist. Two, if they did, I would be sleeping with them. Three, what kind of guys cares about how many people you’ve slept with anyway?”

“Decent guys!” Castiel glared at Dean before walking away.

~

Castiel pushed the bed covers off of him as he slipped out of bed and rubbed his eyes. He stood up and padded slowly over to kitchen to get his daily coffee fix, running a hand through his severe bed hair. As he stepped into the living area, having to cross it to get the kitchen, Dean’s sleeping body on his coach came into focus.

“Hey!” Castiel stopped and raised his arms in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Dean sat up, clutching the cushion that had been resting on his chest, blinking wildly.

“Oh, hey Cas.” Dean rubbed his eyes and groaned slightly at the ever brightening room, “Waiting, for, um, Amy to leave.” He gave a small smile and leant back and closed his eyes again.

Castiel became aware that he was only wearing his pyjama pants, and crossed his hands in front of his bare chest. It wasn’t like he had dressed to find Dean hiding in his apartment.

“You hooked up with someone last night after I left you?” Castiel said in surprise.

“Hooking up sounds so crass,” Dean snuggled further into Castiel’s couch, “We shared a romantic experience. And then I told her I had an early dentist appointment and I’m hiding on your couch until she leaves.” He looked up and gave a sly smile again as Castiel rolled his eyes.

“Well maybe you could use this downtime to do some actual work.” Castiel crossed back over to his bedroom and pull on an old shirt.

“I am working.” Dean pushed the cushions off him and sat up, “I set up a Facebook account for you.”

“Ugh, I don’t want to be on the Facebook.” Castiel murmured and then stopped, eyes wide, “Wait. What picture did you use?”

“The one I just took of you sleeping.” Dean indicated towards Castiel’s bed, his green eyes bright in the morning sun.

Castiel groaned and made a face at Dean as he carried on with his original plan of getting coffee.

“I think this is better, you can be looking for them while they are looking for you.” Dean opened up the laptop that was in front of him and began examining the information on the screen.

“Fine. But I refuse to tweet.” Castiel stated as he opened one of the kitchen cupboards and took out a couple of mugs.

“Ooh, number 14, Josiah Slader has friend requested you.” Dean turned to look at Castiel, a look of accomplishment on his face.

“He has tagged you in a photo and has suggested you become a fan of Tito’s Tacos.” Dean chuckled.

“Oh, I liked Josiah.” Castiel scuttled over to the laptop to get a better look, placing the mugs on the work surface.

“Yeah, who doesn’t like tacos?”

“He’s adorable.” Castiel gasped and whispered quietly, clicking on various pictures of the man on the screen. “And so are his wife and kids.” Castiel finished as he clicked off the page.

“Then he clearly doesn’t understand what Facebook is for.” Dean scowled as he crossed off the name on the list.

“You know if you don’t start taking this job more seriously, you’re fired from using my apartment.” Castiel glanced over at Dean who was now hunched over the computer and smiled softly.

“Where’s my coffee pot.” Castiel asked and he scanned the kitchen for any sign of it.

“I broke it.” Dean said, with nothing more than a glance in Castiel’s direction, “If you were on twitter you’d know that already.”

Castiel leant back against the wall and sighed, he really didn’t know how he was going to cope, Dean was like having a teenager and a toddler rolled into one smashing round your house.

~

Castiel made his way slowly up the flight of stairs that lead to the top floor where his and Dean’s flats were, a brand new coffee pot tucked underneath his arm.

“You owe me $19.95.” he called up the stairs, Dean’s head popping over the top banister at the sound of his voice.

“How about I pay you back in Chinese food?” Dean replied, bringing a pot of noodles into view. “I ordered Charlie Chang’s-” He quirked a smile at the name of the local food joint.

“Did you get the itty bitty spare ribs?” Castiel questioned, raising an eyebrow.

In return Dean held up a rib between his chopsticks, smiling widely.

“Ok, I’ll be there in five minutes.”

Castiel let himself into his apartment and dumped the new coffee pot on the side before rushing out again towards Dean’s door.

“Hey?” Castiel pushed the already open door and called through to Dean.

“Cas, come on in.”

Castiel walked through into Dean’s kitchen to see his getting out the noodles and a couple of beers before a flash of red caught his attention in the corner of his eye. He turned to see a whole section of the wall take up with a mind map of all of Castiel’s exes. Red string stretched from a map in the centre out towards each person.

“Wow.”

“Yeah, Dad didn’t take me to too many ball games but we did go on a lot of stakeouts.”

“It’s impressive, I’ll give you that.”

Dean set down the boxes of food on his small breakfast table and slid into a chair, Castiel followed suit and took the box of his favourite ribs.

~

“Okay so Mike Miller and Eric Hamilton are married.” Dean and Castiel sat on the floor, piles of paper scattered around them as they tried to sort through it.

“So is Valario, the guy from Italy.” Dean continued, working his way down the list.

“Okay…” Castiel leaned over Dean to grab another spring roll from the box beside him.

“Sauce?” Dean offered, holding up the bottle and a jar of mustard.

“Yes please, but no mustard.”

“No mustard? Mustard’s the best part.” Dean grumbled as he put some sauce on the roll with a spoon.

“Not if you hate mustard.” Castiel squinted at Dean as he took a bite out of the spring roll.

“Have you got anything on Jake Adams yet?”

“No,” Dean sighed, “I’m sorry, I did tell you; rich people are very good at protecting their privacy. Be patient, we’ll find him.” Dean ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up in every direction and took a swig of his beer.

“What about Crowley? He’s separated, his house just went on the market so I’m guessing a divorce is right round the corner.”

“Huh, okay.” Castiel contemplated the possibility, “Let’s try him.”

Dean nodded in recognition and flicked through the papers until he found him.

“Okay so what’s my plan? Guy getting a divorce…” Castiel mumbled things to himself as he thought through his strategy.

“I could find out who his lawyer is and get a job there as his assistant!”

This earned a strange look from Dean and he turned to face him, his eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

“Or, we keep it simple and you go and have a look at his open house?” Dean pointed down towards the papers in his lap.

“Huh.”


	6. Loud And Clear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Let’s drop it.” Dean whipped out a massive pile of paper from behind him before dropping it on his lap. “We’ve got ten possibilities left."

“So the challenge with a recently divorced guy is that he’s just looking to have fun,” Dean took a bite out of the sandwich that he had insisted on buying from a street vendor, Castiel one too, that they had passed a couple of roads back, “What you gotta do is give him the best sex of his life. He can't realize that he's falling in love with you until it's too late. Keep in mind he’s been married to a woman for the last couple of years as well.”

Dean and Castiel were walking on opposite sides of the cobbled street on their way to Crowley’s open house. The plan was simple, Castiel would accidently bump into him, get him talking and convince him to go out for drinks or something.

“So I’m covering up the fact that I’m marriage material with amazing sex?” Castiel squinted at Dean, his head tilted slightly to the right as he fumbled with the wrapped baguette in his hands.

“Yeah.” Dean nodded his head in conformation as he glanced at Castiel, eyeing him up thoughtfully, “How’s your blowjob?”

Castiel’s eyebrows rocketed to the sky as he stuttered out a surprised “What?”

“You heard me.” Dean shrugged and took another bite out of his lunch. “Relax, this is business, I’m trying to help remember?”

“Well, if you must know, it’s pretty good.” Castiel glanced at Dean from underneath his lashes, letting a subtle smile slip from his lips. “It’s just the handjob I haven’t quite figured out yet.”

Dean took a moment to finish chewing what was in his mouth before replying, “Well I guarantee he has so skip it.”

They approached the open front doors to the house, before stopping and looking around to make sure.

“Guess this is it. Ready?” Dean glanced back at Castiel, who nodded and followed him in.

Castiel took in the extravagant furnishings around him, typical of Crowley pick a house that closely resembled one of his English mansions that he was used to.

“This is nice.” He glanced at the oak flooring and glass chandeliers, “Crowley’s doing well.”

“Wonder where the realtor is.” Dean put down his sandwich on the small table by the front door and dashed up the stairs. “Hello?”  
Castiel looked around the living room, hoping to see a sign of Crowley anywhere when a picture frame caught his eye. He reached it in a couple of strides and picked it up to examine closer. Inside was a picture of Domiel and Hael stood on a beach.

“Is that-” Before he could finish Castiel turned around to come face to face with Domiel, who, upon seeing Castiel jumped backwards in shock, clinging desperately to the bag of groceries in his hands.

“What the-”

“Domiel?”

“Castiel?”

He took a step backwards, completely bewildered by the situation.

“What the fuck are you doing in my home?” Domiel gasped, still trying to catch his breath from where Castiel scared him.

“Uhh.” Castiel looked down at the photo in his hand and back up to Domiel again, “The door was open so I assumed this was the open house.”

“No.” Domiel shook his head, obviously still in shock, “No, this is my house. You’re in my home.”

“Oh.” Castiel was struggling to find something to say and explain himself, “My fiancée Daphne and I are looking to buy a house. When she gets back from the North Pole.”

Castiel internally cursed at himself for expanding on the already elaborate lie he had made up at the wedding cake shop and started to walk slowly over to the door.

“Um, hey Castiel. Can I get that picture back from you?” Domiel grimaced and looked down pointedly to the frame in Castiel’s hands.

“Oh! Sorry!” Castiel carefully placed the picture frame on the table by the front door, next to Dean’s sandwich. “Oops.”

He set down his empty wrapper too before rushing out of the door as quickly as possible, trying not to look at Domiel.

Domiel turned away, looking thoroughly confused and freaked out by his recent meetings with Castiel before the sound of a toilet being flushed echoed through the house and Dean fled down the stairs and out onto the road, slamming the door behind him so Domiel couldn’t follow.

Dean ran out on the street, his hands raised in question towards Castiel who stood waiting for him.

“That was Disgusting Domiel!” Castiel whispered harshly.

“He didn’t look disgusting.”

“He was disgusting when I dated him okay?” Castiel rolled his eyes and turned around to start walking away when a familiar face came into sight.

“Oh my god, there’s Crowley.” Dean followed Castiel’s gaze to where a man was just walking out of his house at the other end of the street. “He looks good for a guy going through a divorce.”

Castiel had met Crowley during his time working at a local café when he had come in, homesick, searching for ‘something remotely English’ as he had put it. And with that memory Castiel realised that he couldn’t see Crowley again with Dean watching, and, oh no.

“Ok, go. I can take it from here.” Castiel shoved lightly at Dean’s chest, eager for him to go and leave this to him.

“Don’t shove me.” Dean muttered as he pushed back on Castiel’s shoulder.

Castiel shoved against Dean’s chest harder this time. “Get out of here!” He whispered angrily.

“Don’t shove me!” Dean repeated as he did so again, harder, knocking Castiel backwards. Castiel retaliated and soon they were stuck in a shoving battle in the middle of the street. Castiel flapped his hands against Dean’s chest trying to get a hold to push him away.

“Go. Away.”

“Don’t shove me!”

“Castiel Novak?” Crowley had caught sight of them and had begun to walk towards them, his dark suit standing out against the light cobblestones.  
Castiel stopped when he heard his name being called and pushed Dean behind him.

“Is that you?” Crowley took off his sunglasses to look at Castiel.Oh crap.

“Crowley? Is that you?” Castiel stood there waiting for the inevitable laughter to be heard from Dean as his rather rusty English accent slid into place.

“I can’t believe it!” Dean glanced from Crowley to Castiel and back again, looking more confused than ever about Castiel’s sudden nationality change. “What are the chances?”

Castiel ran a hand through his hair as he peeked a look at Dean, it seemed the situation was beginning to dawn on him.  
Dean doubled over, wheezing in silent fits of laughter as he obviously tried to keep quiet, he eyes scrunched up and his mouth wide with amusement.

“It’s brilliant to see you.” Crowley took Castiel in, as he glanced at Dean from the corner of his eye, who had now turned round in an effort to conceal his laughter.

“It’s brilliant.”

“It is brilliant.” Dean turned around again, smiling widely and looking at Castiel mockingly.

“Crowley, this is my neighbour, Dean.” Castiel sighed as he forced a grin and indicated towards him, “But he has to go now.”

“No, no I don’t.” Dean shook his head once again in disbelief and glanced at Castiel before cracking up laughing again.

“Pleasure.” Crowley outstretched his hand to shake Dean’s, smiling warmly.

“No, no the pleasure’s mine.” Dean shook it and turned his head to peer at Castiel, an eyebrow raised.

“Wow, wow. It’s really great to see you Castiel.” Crowley chuckled, “Did you look this good when we were dating?”

“Oh, well.” Castiel frantically searched for something to say while still retaining his awful attempt to sound like Balthazar, who had studied in England for during his degree, “I had a fringe back then.”

Castiel turned to Dean, silently urging him with his eyes to leave, “That’s bangs. Fringe is bangs.”

“Americans.” Castiel muttered quietly, hoping that only Crowley would hear. Dean was now stood normally but was choking back the laughter that was obviously bubbling up in his throat.

“Listen, they're showing my house, so I've got to disappear for an hour or so. But do you fancy grabbing a pint?” Crowley suggested, smiling a little a he patted his stark black suit.

“Smashing.” Castiel agreed, nodding slightly and letting out a small smile.

Castiel started to walk away with Crowley to exchange numbers when his spun on his heels and winked at the man behind him.

“Cheerio Dean.”

~

Castiel slowly walked up the stairs towards his apartment, taking care to be as quiet as possible, he didn’t really want to talk to Dean about what happened, but he usually ended up doing so anyway and no really caring that he did to be honest. Then, as if on cue, Castiel heard a scrabbled as Dean exited his apartment and appeared, looking over the bannister above Castiel.

“Cross Crowley off the list.” He called up, now seizing his efforts to be soundless and let his feet thump loudly against the steps, echoing around the building.

“What happened?” Dean chuckled, he had obviously not bet on this date going well after Castiel’s performance earlier.

“Um, my British accent was a little rusty,” Castiel could almost hear as Dean crinkled his eyes in amusement as he continued, “and halfway through darts I started sounding like some Yorkshire farmer.”

Castiel recalled when he had slipped into it accidently and had thoroughly confused Crowley with all his “bloody ‘ells”.

“And then when I tried to back out of it, I panicked and went full Borat. And I was just trying to talk to him and I couldn’t stop and then I was like ‘What’s next for Svorgen’ for no particular reason and-”

“Svorgen?” Dean looked sceptical.

“Yeah, the Swedish chef from the Muppets-”

“Yes I know from the Muppets, I’m just surprised you’ve seen it.”

“It’s about the only television I have to be honest.”

Castiel finally reached Dean at the top of the stairs and sighed as he looked up at Dean.

“He was always my favourite.” Dean grinned.

“Okay, who else have we got?”

~

Castiel took in the view of the city around him as he followed Dean onto the rooftop, standing to gaze at the sky as Dean flopped down onto the coach randomly placed on the flat roof.

“I thought we weren’t allowed up here?” Castiel glanced round at Dean when he didn’t answer, only to see him chewing on a large slice of pizza from the boxes he had brought up with them. “Didn’t you get that memo?”

Dean pointed at his chest and swallowed, “I wrote that memo.”

Castiel rolled his eyes and opened one of the pizza boxes and took a slice out.

“It was getting kind of crowded when my band and I practiced up here.”

“What does your band play?”

“Mainly classic rock, for now.”

“My brother’s friend is looking for a band for her son’s bar mitzvah.” Castiel stepped backwards and sat on the coach next to Dean, eagerly biting into his slice of pizza.

“No, thank you.” Dean finished off his slice and brushed his hands on his jeans, “We’re not that kind of band.”

“The kind that makes money?” Castiel smiled cheekily, the light from the city below reflecting brightly off his blue eyes.

“Let’s drop it.” Dean whipped out a massive pile of paper from behind him before dropping it on his lap. “We’ve got ten possibilities left. One, Jay from Club Turquoise, I’m trying but I need more info.”

“I’m sorry, Jay might not even be his real name.” Castiel finished off his slice before looking back out at the sky again, wincing, “My name’s certainly not Jimmy.”

“Uh, okay. Esper Ingold. Lives in Miami. I know it’s not geographically desirable but he is a dentist now.” Dean flashed a smile at Castiel only to get a scowl in return as he slouched into the coach.

“I don’t care, I hate Miami. I think too much sun makes people stupid.”

“You must be real fun at parties.” Dean muttered as he flicked to the next file.

“What?”

“Never mind. Okay, how do you feel about Denver? I found the mountain man and that guy has got the body worth relocating for.” Dean looked at Castiel hopefully.

“Pass! He always wanted to breathe fresh air.” Castiel turned to Dean, eyes wide and flapping his hands with emphasis. “Do you know how exhausting it was to pretend to enjoy the outdoors with that kind of enthusiasm?”

“More exhausting than pretending to be British?” Dean smirked, sneaking a glance at Castiel.

“I never had to wipe myself with a leaf when I was pretending to be British.” Castiel scowled once again and jabbed Dean in the arm lightly.

“Touché.”

Dean picked another slice of pizza off the table next to them and shoved it in his mouth before turning to the next person.

“What about Thaddeus? He’s a puppeteer so he’s single.”

Castiel grimaced at the memories that suddenly flooded into his mind.

“I don’t wanna go out with Thaddeus.” He muttered quietly, slipping into a pretend sulk before jumping up again, “Where’s Inias Milton!?”

“Ouagadougou.”

“What? Where the hell is that?” Castiel turned, confused.

“Africa. He runs his family philanthropic foundation and he's overseeing the construction of a school there.” Dean leaned over towards Castiel, showing the glossy photos of the site he had collected. Castiel turned to speak, only to find himself a lot closer to Dean than he anticipated. He could feel Dean’s hot breath against his cheek and his heart fluttered suddenly in his chest. Castiel panicked and then withdrew quickly. Then when he still found himself too close to Dean’s body that seemed enticingly warm in the ever cooling night, we leaned back further against the armrest behind him, trying not to look at Dean.

“Is he ever coming back?” Castiel finally blurted out, eager to break the silence between them.

“Eventually.” Dean answered, flicking back to a previous page, “In the meantime I’ve got Thaddeus.”

“No.” Castiel breathed, leaning back into the couch and letting himself slide down.

Dean let out a loud laugh before turning back to Castiel. “Well...”

~

“Alright the puppet show starts at three and I’ll meet you at the park.” Dean stepped in next to Castiel as he began to open his apartment door.

Castiel nodded in agreement and finally opened it just as Dean began to walk over to his. “Hey Dean?”

Dean scooted over swiftly and stopped right in front on Castiel, his knees bent so their faces were level.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. For all your hard work, by the way.” Dean slowly rose up so he was standing up straight, smiling softly at Castiel’s words. “I really appreciate it.”

“You do?” Dean’s eyes sparkled as Castiel nodded again, looking up at Dean through his thick lashes.

“Cause sometimes it’s hard to tell.” Dean admitted, looking at the floor.

“Really?” Castiel really hadn’t intended to come off ungrateful, he was just naturally grumpy sometimes. “Oh I’m sorry.”

Castiel patted Dean’s arm awkwardly before moving in for a small hug, Castiel felt Dean smile beside him as he buried his face in Dean’s leather jacket. It smelled of him and the evening air and Castiel wished he could fall asleep like this. It was only the sensation of Dean’s hand wandering down his spine that woke Castiel out of his trance. Tentatively Dean placed his hand over Castiel’s buttocks and squeezed gingerly.

“What are you doing?” Castiel froze and dug his fingers into Dean’s shoulder.

“Trying to end the night with a bang.” Dean muttered into Castiel’s ear, his breath flitting against Castiel’s neck.

Castiel sighed and began to detach himself from Dean’s grip. “You really can’t hang out with anyone without sleeping with them can you?”

“Well. I can, it’s just not as fun.”

Both of them paused for a brief moment, waiting for a response from either of them before Castiel drew back and whispered softly into Dean’s ear.

“You’re not on my list.”

Dean nodded as Castiel patted his arm then turned around to open his door and step into his apartment.

“You could just cross off the dead guy.”

The door shut in front of him, leaving Dean stood out in the hallway, muttering to himself.

“And put mine on there.” Dean raised his hand as if to knock on the door again before dropping it and walking away.

~

Castiel walked across the lush green grass to where he could see Dean sat down, watching the puppet show.

“Whose kid is this?” Castiel questioned, pointing at the young child sat next to Dean on the blanket.

“Oh, this is my uh, friend Lisa’s kid. Thought it would seem a bit strange going to a puppet show without a child with us.”

“Good idea.” Castiel sat down on the other side of the child and turned his attention to the show in front of him.

“Ben, do you want to say hi?” Dean leaned down and whispered in Ben’s ear.

“Arrrrrr.”

“He’s a pirate.” Dean explained and Castiel smiled, he obviously cared a lot for this kid and it was quite endearing.

Suddenly there was a burst of applause as the show finished and the puppets took a bow.

“Okay, you’re up.” Dean flashed a smile and slid his sunglasses far enough down his nose so that Castiel could see his eyes as he gave him a wink.

Castiel took Ben’s hand and began to lead his over to the puppeteer’s tent so that he could meet Thaddeus. He was handing out coloured balloons to the crowd when he came into Castiel’s view.

Thaddeus looked just the same as when he had first met him; answering the door to the many times that Thaddeus had rung it asking after Gabriel. And, well, one time Gabriel wasn’t home and Castiel was feeling particularly rebellious after another argument with his brothers, and, one thing lead to another. Ew. Not to mention the random appearance of one of his puppets when they were in the bedroom, or, that right after he asked when Gabriel was going to be home. Overall it was one of the most cringe worthy tales in all of Castiel’s life, and had therefore had not shared it with anyone.

“Thaddeus?” Castiel started, he had almost perfected his fake-surprised look over the last couple of weeks.

“Castiel?” Thaddeus’ eyes flicked between him and Ben who was standing right beside Castiel, “What are you doing here?”

“Oh, you know. I’m just babysitting for a friend.” Castiel patted the top of Ben’s head who had started to scuff his shoes repeatedly on the grass.

“Oh cool, so you saw the magical show?” Thaddeus waved his hands enthusiastically above the props next to him.

“Yeah. Wow. The kids, they, uh, loved it.”

“Ah, that’s just because I say ‘poop’ a lot.”

They both chuckled, maybe this wasn’t too bad? Maybe Thaddeus had changed.

“Hey, so.” Thaddeus made a trumpeting noise and slowly revealed a large puppet, clad in a leather jackets and slick back haircut. Castiel recognised it as one from when they knew each other before.

“Do you recognise this bad boy?”

“Hey there Smart Alec.” Castiel forced a smile, he still found those things creepy.

 

“Hi!” Thaddeus made the puppet reply.

“So, how are you?” Thaddeus started before he quickly brought Smart Alec up to his face and moved its mouth, making it speak to him, “ _Quit being a pussy and ask him about Gabe.”_

And there it was, the clear sign that this was not going to work out.

“What? Come on man. Don’t be rude.” Thaddeus looked at the puppet and pinched the felt nose slightly, “You are rude.”  
And now he was having a conversation with it.

“I’m sorry about that.”

“That’s ok, I’m, uh, great.” Castiel swallowed, realising he should probably try and leave this conversation as soon as possible.

“Well you look great.”

 _“Not as great as Gabriel.”_ Thaddeus made the puppet speak again. He rolled his eyes and tutted. “Ignore him.” He made a groaning noise and mimed shooting Smart Alec.

“Hey, but seriously we should exchange numbers y’know, and catch up.”

“You know what? I think I’m all caught up!” Castiel shrugged his shoulders and flashed a smile.

 _“Cool.”_ Thaddeus made the puppet answer for him once again.

“But it was really great running into you.”

“Great running into you.” Thaddeus waved with his spare hand.

Castiel began to walk away to look for Ben, Dean had disappeared, probably to go and find more food.

“No it wasn’t.”

“Ok I’ll see you around.” Thaddeus called after Castiel, as he made his way through the crowd of small children.

Castiel grabbed Ben’s hand and after a few minutes of walking around, finally saw Dean standing over in the corner.

“I can’t believe I slept with that guy.” Castiel said as soon as they reached him.

“Wait.” Dean lifted his hands in surprise, “Where’s Ben?”

“This is Ben.” Castiel frowned, looking down at the child next to him.

“That’s not Ben.” Dean raised his eyebrows and pointed at the child.

Castiel crouched down so that he was face to face with the kid, what the hell?

“What’s the matter with you? Didn’t your mother teach you to not walk off with strangers?” Castiel huffed, feeling frustrated. Dean tugged on Castiel’s shoulder and spun him round to face him.

“What’s the matter with you? You didn’t realise you had a completely different human being?”

Castiel looked down, confused and bewildered at the child as Dean ran off shouting Ben’s name. He knelt down again and grabbed hold of the child’s shoulders.

“Okay, what does your mommy look like?” Castiel said, slowly. The child looked at him blankly. “Daddy? What does your daddy look like?”

“Like you.” The child answered, smiling brightly at Castiel. Suddenly there was a call of _‘LUCAS’_ from behind them and Castiel turned to see a man striding towards them at a fast pace.

“GET BACK HERE.”

Lucas started shuffling towards his Dad while Castiel stood startled, on the pavement.

“What the hell do you think you were doing with my son?”

Castiel had no response to that so instead he turned and ran, eager to find Dean and apologise for losing Ben.

~

And he did find him, by a pretzel stand, with Ben.

“No more disappearing acts, buddy.” Dean was talking to Ben who was decidedly ignoring him and walking off with his collection of balloons and a pretzel.

“Okay, I am not buying you anymore food until you find Inias Milton.” Castiel handed Dean his pretzel and gave him a stern look.

“If he was so perfect why didn’t it work out in the first place?” Dean questioned as he broke his pretzel into pieces.

“Amongst other things,” Castiel grimaced as he continued, “We made this sort of pact that we would lose our virginity to each other, but Inias went abroad during the New Year and, well, I broke the pact.”

“With who?” Dean looked surprised as he handed a pretzel piece to Castiel, “Who out of the 20 could have possibly been better than Inias Milton and why aren’t we looking for him?”

“You already found him.” Castiel muttered, nearly covering his face in shame. Dean grabbed Castiel’s shoulder forcing them both to stop as he gasped.

“Thaddeus? You lost your virginity to the puppeteer?” Dean clutched at his stomach as he let out a loud belly laugh.

“I know, I know.” Castiel groaned, before attempting to explain, “I felt bad for him?”

“Oh Cas, I underestimated you. That’s amazing.” Dean glanced at him before bursting out laughing again, “That’s my new favourite thing about you.”

Dean grinned as Castiel shoved into his side, scowling at him as Dean laughed again, making his bright green eyes shimmer in the sunlight and the corners of his eyes crease up with laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ouagadougou is pronounced wag-ga-doo-goo  
> 


	7. Moving Along

Castiel stepped into the cool, crisp air of the café, a welcomed change to the humid and muggy atmosphere outside. He strode over to where he could see Gabriel sitting in a corner, slowly sipping his mug of coffee.

“Hey.” Gabriel greeted him in return with a nod of his head, “Is Kali coming?”

“No.” He seemed to grimace before continuing, “Michael.”

Castiel stood up as if to leave, picking up his coat that he had taken off on his way in.

“Don’t go. Please?” Gabriel looked at him with his puppy-dog pleading eyes and Castiel sat down with a sigh.

“I can’t have dinner with Michael, have you even see what I’m wearing?” Castiel groaned as he indicated down to his grubby jeans and a band t-shirt, that he didn’t even recognise the name of, that he had grabbed off the floor of his apartment only to discover half way here that it was, in fact, Dean’s. He seemed to have claimed Castiel’s apartment as his own now and left his belongings, strewn haphazardly, well, everywhere.

“Pfft, you look fine. Michael hasn’t seen you this week so he doesn’t know you’ve been wearing the same jeans all this time. Plus I don’t know why you insist on wearing that grubby trench coat anyway.” Gabriel eyed his accusingly as he took another sip of his coffee, a quick glance at his legs confirmed that Gabriel was right. But he liked his coat so he glared at his brother until realisation hit him.

“Anna hasn’t told Michael about Lucifer coming to the wedding has she?”

“No.”

“And you’ve been put in charge of telling him.”

“Yes.”

“And that’s why I’m here.”

“Yes.”

“And my clothes don’t look that great do they?”

“No.”

Castiel sighed and leant back in his chair, all the while glared at Gabriel. He was really tempted to leave before Gabriel grabbed his arm and whined.

“I can’t tell him alone Cassie, you’re my back up!”

Castiel rolled his eyes before withdrawing his arm from Gabriel’s grip, “Fine.” He picked up a bread roll from the basket in front of him and began lathering in in butter.

“Good afternoon Gabriel. Castiel.” Michael appeared behind them and nodded towards each of them.

“Hello.” Both the brothers replied in unison. Michael dragged his fingertips across the t-shirt Castiel was wearing and rubbed his fingers together in inspection as he walked past him to get to his seat,

Castiel directed his gaze towards Gabriel as he did this, narrowing his eyes in a silent ‘I told you so’.

“The cater called.” Michael sat down in his chair and stated this as though Castiel would know exactly what he meant by it. “How strict of a vegetarian is your boyfriend, Nathan, Castiel?” Michael said the word as if tasted sour on his tongue.

“Nathaniel.” Castiel almost silently corrected.

“No, Nathaniel’s not coming. They broke up.” Gabriel stated, almost in a questioning manner, as if Castiel would have to explain to him why he didn’t tell Michael.

“What? Again?” Michael turned towards Castiel as he polished his glass with a napkin.

Castiel froze, unable to think of anything to say, “Lucifer’s coming to the wedding.” He blurted.

Michael was the first to react with another cry of ‘What?’ followed in quick succession by Gabriel calling out his name.

Gabriel sat back in his chair and crossed his arms, he stared at Castiel, hard, a flame of anger flickering behind his eyes. Castiel was well aware that he had just dumped Anna in it. Michael placed the glass down on the table, pressing his lips together in a hard line and moved his chair closer to the table in loud irregular thumps, making it clear that he wasn’t happy.

“How could she do this to me?” Michael almost whispered to himself. Castiel rolled his eyes, it was just like Michael to be melodramatic and it looked like Gabriel was having the same reaction as he was.

“We’re not doing anything to you Michael.” Gabriel said softly, he knew exactly how to speak to him compared to Castiel.

“Except making it impossible for me to come.” Michael declared.

“You’re not going to go to Anna’s wedding?” Castiel was doubtful that he was speaking the truth, he had been so pleased when Anna had announced her engagement.

“Not if your brother is coming.” Michael adjusted his suit and shot a glare at Castiel, “Maybe he can be Castiel’s date.”

Castiel glowered at Michael and slumped back in his seat. They were now going to have to listen to his whingeing for the rest of the dinner. Castiel sneaked a glance at Gabriel who was sitting across from him with his arms crossed and a murderous look on his face as he shook his head slowly.

“I’m sure you’ll have a lovely, lovely time.”

Castiel and Gabriel stood on the side of the road, waving, as they watched Michael get into his black sports car.

“It was nice seeing you. Goodbye.” Michael got into the passenger side, held open by his chauffer. Castiel almost sighed at his brother formality, it was really quite tiring.

“Bye.” Gabriel replied for both of them before turning to Castiel, “You have to fix this.”

“I know! I’ll talk to him when I get back.” Castiel whispered harshly.

“Where are you going?” Gabriel grabbed Castiel’s arm, he realised he was still waving and lowered his hand to his side again.

“To Miami. For a dentist appointment.”

“What! Why?” The confusion was obvious in Gabriel’s voice.

“Do you remember Esper Ingold?”

“The guy who threw up in our dishwasher?” Trust Gabriel to remember the worst thing about him, Castiel had forgotten all about that incident.

“Yeah, he’s a dentist now.” Michael’s car eventually drove away so they started to walk down the street towards Castiel’s apartment building.

“But you hate Miami.”

“I know. But I’m not having as much luck locally and I’m running out of time, money, and just general hope.”

“So you’re saying that tracking down your ex-boyfriends is more important than helping me plan Anna’s wedding.” Gabriel eyed Castiel warily.

Castiel gave a sigh of exasperation and sped up the pace, “I know it seems stupid to you but it is important. To me anyway. I feel like everyone else is moving on with their lives but me.”

“Cassie, I’m all for moving on, I really am, but it just feel like this quest you’re on is a little, nuts.” Gabriel stopped walking, forcing Castiel to do the same and shrugged his shoulders while giving Castiel an apologetic look.

“If Anna hadn’t even her ex-boyfriend a second chance there wouldn’t even be a wedding right now!” Castiel was tired of having to explain himself to his siblings so instead just gave the only reasonably explanation he had, “I needed a check-up anyway. And he takes my insurance.”

Castiel backed off and dashed across the road, shouted behind him, “Goodbye though, I’m late for my haircut!”

Castiel could almost hear Gabriel sigh as he carried on running, it wasn’t like it was unnecessary, his hair was beginning to look a bit shaggy anyway.

~

“Castiel Novak?”

Castiel got up from where he was sitting in the cool waiting room and followed the assistant into the room.

“Hello,” Esper glanced up at him from his clipboard and nodded in his direction. “Castiel. Please have a seat.”

“Esper?” Castiel resumed his shocked expression, Esper didn’t seem to have recognised him straight away. “Oh my god, is that you?”

Castiel spoke each word slowly, hoping to gain some reaction from the man across from him. Esper nodded and then smiled.

“Hi.” He obviously still didn’t recognise Castiel and was a pretty bad actor as well. Esper sat down in his chair and pulled on some surgical gloves.

“It’s Castiel?” He walked over and sat in the dental chair, next to Esper who seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him. “Castiel Novak?”

“Oh, yeah! From spinning.” Esper smiled before letting it fall when he saw Castiel’s disappointed face.

“No…”

“Oh from Brett’s birthday party?” Esper’s lip twitched slightly in a mischievous expression, was he really being compared to a one night stand?

“We went to college together?” Castiel attempted to smile while Esper shook his head slightly, eyes wide. “We dated?”

Castiel’s tone and turned more frustrated and he stared at Esper feeling dejected.

“Oh. How about that?” Esper inhaled a deep breath and blew out slowly, buying himself time while he fiddled with his latex gloves. “Well that was a long time ago. So let’s see how things are going.”

The faltering remainder of Castiel’s smile dropped completely and he sat back in the chair and opened his mouth wide. Esper adjusted the light before inserting the mouth mirror and did a quick sweep of Castiel’s teeth.

“Castiel!” Esper face came into view, grinning. “Of course!”

~

Castiel let his suitcase thump behind him against the steps as he made his way up the stairwell.

“He recognised my wisdom teeth!” Castiel called, he already knew Dean was at the top waiting outside their apartments, “What’s going in on in there? I have to say I’m a little freaked out.”

“I’d be happy to take a look for you.”

Castiel rolled his eyes, “Was that a flirtation?”

“Maybe.” Dean gave a coy smile and jumped down the last couple of steps to help Castiel drag his suitcase up.

“I used all my miles for that. Cross Esper off the list.” He let go of his case as Dean pulled it in front of Castiel’s apartment door. “You know what? Cross the list off the list. What am I doing? Unemployed. Spending every last dime trying to track down these assholes who already broke up with me once… Maybe I should just quit.”

“Well that’s too bad,” Dean was grinning now at Castiel’s rant, as he started to back off towards his own apartment before stopping and awaiting a response from Castiel.

“Because I found Ezra Piper.”

“Keep talking.” Castiel let a wry smile dangle off the edge of his lips.

“He’s in DC like you said, he’s working as an aid for Senator Mitchell.”

“I don’t have anything a Politian would wear.” Castiel stood still, deliberating carefully. “Wait! I do have a voucher for that pretentious tailor that Michael likes!”  
Castiel dashed into his apartment, hastily dragging his suitcase behind him, leaving Dean stood out in the hallway as he rolled his eyes and returned to his.

~

Castiel transferred the bags full of his new suit onto one arm and took out his buzzing phone from his pocket and answered the call.

“Hey.”

“Cassie, I’m on your street and I have to use your toilet.” It was Gabriel. He didn’t really have a sense of how much information you should share to be honest. “Okay. Let yourself in, I’ll be home in five minutes.”

“Hey,” Castiel opened his apartment door, quickly scanning the room to look for Gabriel only to find him and Dean sat at opposite ends couch to one another. And Dean appeared to be naked.

“Hey.” Dean replied as he strummed a few strings of the guitar that was resting over his lap. Gabriel shot a glare at Castiel as he came in, he was sat up straight as far away from Dean as possible.

“Oh. Jesus. Please tell me you’re not naked on my couch next to my brother.” Castiel took in a sharp breath and pursed his lips, he hadn’t moved from when he first came in.  
Dean responded by lifting up his guitar to reveal that he was wearing a pair of bright blue boxer shorts. Castiel sighed as Dean gave his a subtle wink, as if he should be proud that he was actually wearing clothing.

“Thankfully he doesn’t like to play without his underwear,” The muscles in Gabriel’s face tightened. “The guitar gets cold against his penis.”

Dean smirked again as he adjusted the tuning pegs while plucking at the strings. Castiel rolled his eyes and walked over to the kitchen to grab a glass.

“So, you too have met.” Castiel placed the groceries down on his table behind the coach, before turning to Gabriel. “Hey, remember Tom Piper?”

Gabriel nodded as Castiel walked in front of the, rifling through the bags. “Dean found him in DC,” Dean stopped playing and his head perked up at the mention of his name. “So I’m going there tomorrow…”

Castiel whipped out the suit he had just bought that day and held it up for both of them to see, a toothy smile plastered across his face.

“Wearing this!” Both Gabriel and Dean grimaced. “I’m so excited.”

“So why would you dress up like an 80 year old.” Dean looked genuinely confused.

“Don’t you have that interview at Sheffield and Bloom tomorrow?” Gabriel sighed and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“That’s the beauty of a suit. It works for both a super boring interview and for an accidental-on purpose encounter with my future husband.” Castiel had walked back over to the kitchen and had begun putting food away into his fridge.

“Hey have you ever tried selling those freaky angel paintings that you do?” Dean looked over his shoulder towards Castiel to see him shrugging his shoulders.

“No, he needs a real job.” Gabriel interrupted.

“Oh yeah, those are just a hobby.” Castiel dismissed the idea with a flick of his hand.

“Well I think they’re amazing. You should try, not everyone can do that you know.” Dean let out a small smile before quickly turning his eyes away.

“Huh. Thank you.” A wide smile enveloped Castiel’s face as his eyes lit up in response to the compliment.

Castiel was interrupted from staring at Dean by Gabriel’s voice as he jabbed at Dean’s arm.

“Hey. Would you mind giving Cassie and I a little bit of privacy please?” Dean glanced at Castiel as if waiting an explanation.

“He needs a poo.” Castiel deadpans before grabbed more food and shoving it in a cupboard.

“Cassie, I-” Gabriel let out a strained laugh as Dean looked at him, keeping a straight expression.

“Hasn’t your lady friend left yet?”

“No, I guess this one’s a late sleeper.” Dean rubbed a hand over his dark stubble before continuing to strum his guitar.

“Wait,” Gabriel took a moment to catch up as he stuttered, before finally speaking clearly. “Are you, is he, hiding out here because there is a woman in his apartment?” Gabriel stared at both of them, his eyes moving wildly from one to another.

Dean leaned towards Gabriel before whispering, “Yes.”

“That’s it.” Gabriel hastily gathered up his coat before marching over to the door, hitting Dean’s guitar out of the way as he went, “I’m going to Anthony’s Bakery.”

“Grab me a cannoli?” Dean called out after him only to hear Castiel’s door being slammed in response.

“Ok, keys.” Castiel held out his hand as Dean snatched them off the coffee table and threw them to Castiel. To be honest he sort of enjoyed this part, it could be quite entertaining.

Castiel opened the door to Dean’s apartment and jumped down the steps into his kitchen. He dumped the keys on the side and was about to walk over to Dean’s bed when he heard a muffled gasp from behind him.

Castiel’s eyes grew wide as he saw a woman, obviously the one he had been sent to scare out of Dean’s apartment, perched on the kitchen counter, topless.

“Who the hell are you?” Well this was a first.

“Andrea?” The poor woman was completely shocked, she slid down off the counter and desperately tried to cover her chest.

“I’m his brother, he didn’t tell you he was engaged?” Castiel covered his mouth with his hand and tried to look as though he was in disbelief.

“No, I am so sorry! When I told him I was engaged he didn’t say anything!” Really?

Andrea made a motion to signal that she was going to leave and proceeded to scurry around to gather her things. Castiel moved to sit down on the small couch pushed up against his counter, curling up and covering his head completely now. Andrea leant down to pick up her handbag that was next to Castiel just as he lowered his hands, only to be greeted by her uncovered chest. Castiel groaned, trying to act as though he was still in shock due to his ‘brothers’ unfaithfulness.

Andrea was on the floor now trying to find her other shoe as Castiel handed it to her, shaking his head in disbelief. She rushed out the door, still only wearing her underwear as Castiel stopped groaning and stood up straight, rolling his eyes.

A few minutes later Dean opened the door and stepped into his apartment, grabbing his dressing gown off the pegs by his door. Castiel leant over and opened the fridge, taking out two beers and opening them as he walked over to hand one to Dean.

“Hey, wouldn’t it be easier if you just spent the night at their apartments, and left in the morning like a normal guy?” This was met by Dean silently shaking his head and sighing.

“No, I once stayed in a relationship with a girl because of a picture she had on her bedside table,” Dean took his beer out of Castiel’s hand. “It was her dressed as Cinderella on her 5th birthday. Grab that?”

Dean had walked over to his bed where the sheets lay in complete disarray, he was pointing at a pillow on the floor by Castiel’s feet.

“So?” He picked it up and placed it on the bed while he straightened the sheets and pulled the covers on all the way.

“So, every time I tried to split with her I would picture that little girl in the blue dress, happy, excited about Monty her new gerbil, who she would later accidentally kill by putting it in the dryer.”

Castiel raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly.

“I just couldn’t break that little girl’s heart.” Dean collapsed onto the bed and sighed again, looking miserable.

“So you’re saying it’s easier to sleep with girls and then not call them again if you don’t know anything about them?” Castiel walked over to where he had put down his beer and took a swig of it. “Kind of like a serial killer.”

Dean took in a deep breath and cocked his head to the side, a small smile dangling on the edge of his lips. “Yeah I guess so.”

Castiel let out a breath of laughter as he sat down next to Dean and they chinked glasses.


	8. Everything Is A Possiblity

“Hey, so I talked to Ezra’s assistant. He says he’s going to be doing research in the library of the Adam’s Building for the rest of the day.”

Dean’s voice echoed down the phone as Castiel walked down the pathway to the side of a large stone building, absent-mindedly rubbing at his left leg and limping slightly.

“Hang on, my leg fell asleep on the train.” Castiel shuffled along, trying not to put too much weight on his leg, fearing it would result in more cramps. “Pins and needles, ugh.”

“Punch it.”

“Really?” Castiel balanced his phone in the nook of his collarbone and he swung his hand against his thigh as he heard a muffled chuckle across the phone. “I’m punching.”  
People had begun to stare at Castiel as he punched his leg repeatedly, before giving him a sharp look and moving on quickly. “What your leg’s never fallen asleep before?” Castiel called out angrily.

Castiel heard another chuckle across the phone, accompanied by the sound of running water. “What’s that sound?”

“Nothing.” There was a rough squeaking sound of metal against metal and then the noise ceased. “Hey, I didn’t know you were such a big fan of Lionel Richie.”

Castiel huffed in annoyance before retorting back defensively and ending the call. “You know looking at somebody’s playlist is like reading their diary.”

His phone beeped as it received a text message, it was from Dean. Castiel opened it and squinted at the photo on his screen. It was a close up shot of Dean’s face, but not so close that you couldn’t see that he was in the bath holding Castiel’s iPod, a huge grin plastered across his face.

“That’s my bathtub.” Castiel mumbled quietly as he smiled softly.

He was too busy looking at the photo that he walked straight into a man stood in front of him.

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Castiel stepped away, clinging onto the arms of the man he had walked into.

It was Domiel.

Castiel slowly slipped his hands off Domiel’s, who was looking just as shocked as Castiel was to see him here, he had only run into him the other day due to the open house incident.

“Domiel?”

“Castiel.” Domiel’s expression faltered and became one of both confusion and scepticism. “What are you doing here?”

Castiel internally grimaced. “Visiting my fiancée.”

“Your?” Domiel cleared his throat, “Your fiancée who was at the North Pole.”

“Yep.” Castiel smiled widely, trying to look pleased. “She’s back. Daphne’s back.”

“Oh. Daphne just happens to be in DC the same time I have a conference?” Domiel tried to turn it into a joke, but he looked genuinely doubtful. Castiel didn’t understand why.

“Yes.” Castiel flashed another smile. “She’s meeting with the President.”

Domiel let out a long breath. “Huh, what a coincidence.”

“I know, its crazy right?”

“Yeah it is.” Domiel grimaced and ran a hand through his coppery hair, “That’s exactly what it is.”

“Ok.” Domiel finally uttered before walking off, without even a goodbye.

~

Castiel slowly entered the library, giving a curt nod to the two security guards on either side of the door, and straightened his jacket.

His eyes swept the room for any sign of Ezra as he made his way along the edges of the bookcases, pretending to look for a particular book. When he finally saw him, sitting at one of the many large oak tables down the middle of the library, Castiel gave a small gasp and shuffled backwards out of sight behind a bookcase. He slowly peered round the side, watching as Ezra studied a large leather bound book on the table in front of him.

Castiel had met Ezra while he had been doing some government campaigning on the streets of DC, and, after he had got him talking for a while, had joined him in order to show similar interests.

Castiel slipped a book off one of the shelves and pretended to study it, while making his way over to an empty seat that he had spotted, in such a perfect position that he would be able to see Ezra while he sat there. He had just gotten hold of one of the arms to pull it out when an elderly man tugged it out of Castiel’s grip and sat down, immediately opening a book in front of him.

Castiel sighed and spun on his heels, scanning the room for another place to sit. He saw a seat right on the edge of the table next to the one Ezra was sitting at, separated only by a large marble statue. He went to sit down just as another man when to take the chair.

“No, no, no! It’s taken.” He whispered harshly before finally sitting down. “It’s taken.”

Castiel placed the book he had grabbed onto the table and squirmed around in his seat, trying to catch a glimpse of Ezra. He leaned back and forth, tilting his head round the huge shape of the statue to finally come to terms that he would not be able to see him from where he was sitting.

“Um, excuse me?” Castiel leant forward towards the rest of the people on the table, none of them seemed to be paying attention so he raised his voice a little, while still keeping it at a whisper. “I was wondering if you could help me move the table about three feet.”

“This way.” Castiel gestured behind him, he was met with confused stares. “I like it better over there.”

The people around the table shared a few glances, concerned about the new man on their table who was possibly crazy, before rising out of their seats and taking hold of the edge of the table.

“On three. One. Two. Three.” They lifted up the oak table, Castiel giving directions on how far they should move it. “Keep going. Just a little bit further.”

The older men and woman where making huffing noises as they struggled to manoeuvre the heavy table. “Go team. That’s fantastic.” Castiel thought by whispering encouragements they might move a bit faster but in return he only received more concerned stares.

“Thank you. Ok, almost there. Almost.” Castiel leaned back until he could see Ezra. “Ok. Ok, ok, ok.” Castiel nodded towards the others to drop the table, and they did, rather unceremoniously. The table hit the wooden flooring with a bang, causing books to slide off and one of the glass lamps that was resting on the table to fall over and smash. Castiel’s hand flew to his mouth and he considered making a run for it and hiding behind the books. Castiel glanced at Ezra hoping that he was still preoccupied with his studies only to lock eyes with him.

“Castiel Novak.” Ezra stood up with a knowing smile, probably to do with the mess that lay before him and Castiel’s general clumsiness.

“Ezra?” Castiel resumed his shocked expression which he had come to perfect, before turning to the group of people behind him mumbling in disapproval. “Sshhh.” He swung round to face Ezra and grinned.

~

  
“Oh my god. He’s taking me to this party tonight and I offered to stay at the Best Western but he insisted on putting me up at the Omni!” Castiel flopped onto the luxury double bed, dressed in a toweling robe from where he had just got out of the largest shower enclosure he had ever seen.

“What? So he dropped you off at the hotel and didn’t even come up for its-good-to-see-you sex? What did you do to turn him off?” Dean’s voice was slightly muffled as it came across the phone.

“Nothing! He’s just a gentleman.” Castiel leapt to Ezra’s defense.

“You wore that suit didn’t you.”

“Hey that suit is sexy.” Castiel frowned and turned over onto his front. “Like you would know anyway, you only dress in jeans and fifty layers of shirts.”

“I’ll let you know I’ve done my fair share of eyeing up dudes in suits, and that suit was not sexy.” There was a knock at the door and Castiel rolled off the bed to walk over and answer it.

“Well, Ezra is just a good guy.” Castiel flicked the lock open and tugged at the door handle. “Besides, you wouldn't know a gentleman if he tiptoed up behind you and tickled your balls.”

Stood in the doorway was a middle aged man dressed in a tuxedo, he gestured down to his hands which held a large package, decorated with red ribbon. Castiel rested the phone on his shoulder and took the gift from the man.

“Hello. Thank you.” Castiel swung the door shut behind him with his foot, finally letting his poker face drop and squealed. “I got a present!”

Castiel pulled at either end of the ribbon and let it slide to the floor as he pried open the box. “He just sent me the most expensive looking tuxedo I have ever seen!” There was silence from the other end of the phone but Castiel continued anyway. “I feel like Prince Charming!”

“Careful Charming, when it gets to midnight you don’t want your date running away on you.” Dean’s monotone voice finally replied before Castiel’s phone beeped to signal that Dean had hung up. Castiel was too excited to be bothered about the abrupt ending to their conversation so instead rushed into the bedroom with the tux to get ready.

~

Castiel entered the large ballroom, clutching his hands nervously to his chest, trying to cover the fact that the shirt Ezra had provided was actually far too small and the buttons were desperately to free themselves.

“Wow.” Castiel’s eyes met with Ezra who was across the room, sipping from a champagne flute. “Look at you.”

“You don’t think,” Castiel forced a smile before dropping his hands. “It’s a little small?”

“I apologise.” Ezra snorted a laugh before offering his arm to Castiel. “It was hard to tell what was going on underneath that suit of yours. Ready?”

Just as they were about to stride into the thriving mass of people in front of them Castiel’s phone started vibrating in his pocket. It was Dean.

“I’m sorry.” Castiel took the phone and silenced it before quickly shoving it back into his pocket. It was nothing that couldn’t wait anyway.

“Shall we?” Ezra gestured towards the people in front of his and Castiel nodded, smiling broadly.

~

Dean pressed the edge of his phone into his chin, deliberating whether he should try calling again before slowly slipping the phone into his pocket. He turned around to rest his elbows on the edge of the roof, where Castiel and he had spent the night on the sofa eating pizza, and gazed out onto the city below.

~

Ezra dragged Castiel behind a wall by his hand, face ecstatic with excitement. “I cannot believe Senator Philips and his wife were talking to us for like fifteen minutes!”

“I know!” Castiel wished he could be as excited as Ezra was but to be honest there was nothing special about that conversation, apart from it being mind-numbingly tedious.

“Fifteen minutes! He didn’t even know my name before night and now he wants to hear my ideas about the Tobacco Reform Bill!”

“And she wants to take me out to lunch!” Castiel lifted his arms in surprise and tried to look as happy as possible. “Someplace with popovers?”  
Ezra let out a long laugh and clasped his hands together, “We make a great team.” His voice dropped to a whisper. “With you by my side we could own this town.”

“Totally.”

“I mean it Cassie.” Castiel twitched at the nickname before following Ezra to where he was dragging him off into a corner. “I have my eyes on a Senate seat and then the Presidency.”

Castiel’s jaw dropped as he clung to Ezra’s arm.

“Now if tonight is any indication, I think together we could go all the way.”

“Let’s do it.” Castiel found himself whispering it before he knew what was happening.

“So we’re doing it?” Ezra let out a squeal of joy and nearly jumped up and down.

Castiel paused for a moment. “Wait, what are we doing exactly?”

“You’re going to be my new advisor!”

“What? So what was all this?” Castiel was confused. Really confused.

“A test run. Cassie, we have history and I knew we worked well together.”

“Wait, so this wasn’t a date?”

“No. Cassie.” Ezra shook his head slowly, “I have a girlfriend. I thought you knew that? So what do you say?”

Castiel pursed his lips and gave a faint smile. “Can I get back to you on that?”

~

Castiel dragged his dinner jacket slowly up the staircase that met with Dean and Castiel’s apartments at the top. Every so often he would glance upwards towards the open banister, but Dean had yet to appear. He sighed and carried on walking.

Finally he reached the top and inserted his key into his apartment door only to be greeted by complete darkness. Castiel fumbled around, trying to find the light switch.

“Wait! Wait! Don’t turn it on!” Dean shouted through to him, he was somewhere in Castiel’s apartment. “Stay right there!”

Castiel flicked on the light above him and sighed, he could still only just make out Dean running around. “What are you doing here? I’m not depressed enough to sleep with you.”

“Close your eyes.” Dean’s voice was singing with excitement and anticipation. The joy was almost radiating off him and Castiel couldn’t even see him properly.

“That won’t help.” Castiel muttered, but complied anyway, shutting his eyes to whatever lay in front of him.

“And...” Castiel heard a switch click. “Open them.”

He opened his eyes slowly, fearful of what he might see but was soon stunned into silence. Around him small spotlights came on in turn, illuminating Castiel’s artwork on the walls.

“What do you think?” Dean’s face was lit up by the light furthest away, he was grinning and gazing at Castiel in anticipation.

Castiel was filled with awe, his heart fluttering wildly in his chest. Each light was positioned directly above each canvas, the bright colours stood out and the metallic paints shone, they had never looked so beautiful, and it wasn’t because of his skill it, was because of Dean’s workmanship. He smiled brightly and began to stride over towards Dean.

“My lines pretty spotty so every time these come on your bathroom light burns out.” Dean opened his arms wide to gesture to the paintings. “But I think it’s worth it.”

Castiel approached one of the paintings and fingered the detail, his fingertips brushing lightly across the rough texture of the acrylic paint.

“What did you do?” He whispered, still in awe of what Dean had done for him.

“I think it really brings out the detail you know? I’d never noticed the small flames at the bottom of the one of Luci, well I presume its Lucifer due to the whole banished out of heaven thing that’s going on. I named him Luci by the way.”

“I can’t believe it, this is amazing.” Castiel glanced up at Dean who was rested against the wall, looking genuinely pleased with his work and most of all Castiel’s reaction.

“Yeah, well. You sounded depressed on the phone so.” Castiel had forgotten he had called Dean after walking away from Ezra. Dean’s face lit up once again as he remembered something. “You hungry?”

“I’m starving.” Castiel finally drew his eyes away from the artwork and followed Dean into his kitchen.

“I got pizza!” Dean collapsed into one of the chair and opened the box, while offering a beer to Castiel, who accepted it warmly and sat down opposite him.

~

“It wouldn’t of matter even if he was asking me out on a date anyway, you gotta act like a lady to be the 1st lady. And I ain’t no lady.” Castiel mused as he continued to stuff a huge slice of pizza into his mouth.

“You’re a lady.” Dean smiled, as he watched as Castiel chewed, he cheeks full. “You’re lots a lady. You’re once, twice, twenty times a lady.” Castiel dropped his pizza and raised an eyebrow as Dean smirked.

Dean leapt out of his chair and ran over to his keyboard and guitar by the couch. He hit a button and soon the room was filled with a rhythmic backing bass.

“Ok, I get it.” Castiel swung round on his chair to watch Dean as he began to play. When he started to sing, Castiel got up and started to dance, jumping up and down in front of the coach. The song was different to the original, Dean had moved the lyrics around and turned it into a much faster moving and energetic song. Castiel liked it.

 

_You’re once, twice,_

_Three times a lady._

_And I love you._

 

_When we are together_

_The moments I cherish_

_With every beat of my heart_

_To touch you, to hold you_

_To feel you, to need you_

_There’s nothing to keep us apart_

_Yeah, you’re once, twice,_

_Three times a lady._

_And I love you._

“Thank you, thank you.” Dean held up a hand as if to silence the crowd and Castiel flung himself down onto the coach next to Dean.

“Woah.” Castiel leant back and put a hand to his forehead. “I think I need to lie down or throw up.” , This was probably due to the quantity of alcohol he had already consumed before coming home and having two beers with Dean.

Dean chuckled, before stopping and becoming concerned. “Are you ok?”

“Yeah.” Castiel groaned as he sat up, “No. I have to go to my sister’s wedding alone.”

“I’ll go with you.” Castiel turned towards Dean as he smiled softly before turning his head away to look at something other than Castiel’s eyes.

“You’d do that?”

“Sure, why not.”

“Thanks, I really appreciate that.” Castiel smiled before nodding solemnly. “I still think I’m going to throw up.”

Dean patted his thigh before standing up, “Come on, let’s get some air.” He offered his hand to Castiel to pull him up and he accepted, swinging forward and nearly crashing into Dean’s chest.

~

Dean led him down a cool unlit corridor as they turned and went through numerous double doors. Castiel had no idea where they were.

“What are we doing?” Castiel whispered, tugging on Dean’s shirt.

“Just because its dark doesn’t mean you have to whisper.” Dean retorted back, as he leant towards one of the walls and pulled down a huge lever.

The lights lit up around them to reveal that they were standing in the entrance to a huge sports stadium.

“Is this a basketball court?” Castiel blurted, too shocked to move. “This got to be illegal.”

“Well, yeah probably.” Dean smirked. “I worked here one summer, I passed out programs. But, I did manage to swipe a pass key before I got fired.”

“You got fired?” Castiel raised an eyebrow as they walked onto the court, he was still dressed in the full tuxedo from earlier.

“Um, yeah.” Dean chuckled. “There was an incident with a mascot.”

“What happened?”

“I may or may not have pissed in his pot of gold.” Dean picked up a basketball from a bag at the edge of the court and began dribbling it towards the net. “Ever played horse here before?”

Castiel caught the ball as Dean threw it towards him, “No.” He threw the ball up towards the goal and let in fall directly through the hoop. “But I have played horse.”

“Ok, ok.” Dean smirked, he took the ball back and shot it in. He handed it back to Castiel and he took aim again, but missed. Castiel pouted and let Dean collect the ball. “Take off your jacket then.”

“What?” Castiel paused, not sure whether he should comply or not.

“We’re playing strip horse, is there another kind?” Dean shot him a toothy grin and shot the ball through the hoop.

“There’s a kind where you keep your clothes on.”

“What’s fun about that?” Dean put the ball down as he approached Castiel and took off his jacket for him and flung it towards the bleachers.

“You knew I was going to be bad at this.” Castiel gave Dean an accusing glare but let a small smile creep out as Dean handed him the ball.

“You seemed fine with that first shot, plus you’re wearing a full tux and I’m wearing a shirt and sweats.” Castiel looked Dean up and down and saw that it was true, he wasn’t even wearing any shoes.

“Ok.” Castiel positioned himself and pushed the ball up, willing it to go in. As it hit the backboard and went straight through the hoop Castiel spun round to face Dean. “Game on.”

Dean picked up the ball and threw it at the floor, allowing it to bounce and go through the net. Castiel copied him but the ball bounced back towards him and narrowly missed his face. He groaned as he slipped off his bowtie and chucked it roughly where he jacket had gone.

Dean took the ball and stood backwards to the goal, he swung the ball over his shoulder without him even looking at it. Castiel let out a laugh as it missed and Dean frowned.  
“Come on, you too.” He pointed at Dean’s shirt and Dean pulled it over his head with a mumble of protest.

Castiel tried to do the same but missed, his ball going straight over and into the darkness of the stands. Dean raised an eyebrow at him as he sat down to untie his shoelaces and slip them off. Dean went to retrieve the ball and came back with it spinning on his index finger.

“Show off.” Castiel murmured at Dean pulled him up onto his feet.

From then on they tried to get the ball in using the strangest of techniques, Dean sat on the floor and punched the ball in with his foot, Castiel always copying and nearly always missing. Soon Castiel was down to just his trousers and underwear and Dean the same.

Castiel tried throwing it in from further away and it went in. He grinned at Dean as he passed him the ball, eager for Dean to miss and for him to take the lead. Dean took up his position and threw, bending his knees and scrunching his face up and the ball circled round the hoop before falling outside of the net.

“Come on!”

“Panty time.” Castiel tugged at Dean’s waistband as he walked over to pick up the ball.

Dean scowled as he pulled off his sweatpants and threw them towards the growing pile of clothes at the edge of the court. Castiel’s eye’s flicked down towards Dean’s blue boxer briefs before up to his face again. Dean snatched the ball out of Castiel’s hand and shot it through the hoop, passing it under his knee as he did so, challenging Castiel to do the same.

Castiel passed it under his knee and threw haphazardly at the goal, the ball hitting the edge of the backboard but then falling to the floor.  
Dean gave Castiel a knowing smile as he undid the belt around his waist and dropped his trousers to the floor.

“This is not fair.” Castiel grumbled even though they were both now stood opposite each other in their underwear. “I’m rubbish at this.”

“Well this is the game.” Dean stood smirking with his hand on his hips.

“Well the game is now changing.” Castiel threw the ball hard at Dean’s chest and he caught it with and oof. “It’s now one on one.”

Dean’s eyes twinkled as Castiel approached Dean, waiting for him to make a move and try and get past him. He went to go and take a step to the left but Castiel ignored him, knowing that it was a ply to make him move in the wrong direction. Dean suddenly barged past Castiel and shot the basketball through the hoop.

Castiel sighed and rolled his eyes as Dean flipped him the ball and stood in front of him, waving his arms wildly. He slipped underneath one of the flailing arms and jumped up to shoot the ball. It went in.

Dean caught the ball and went back to dribbling it towards the goal but Castiel intercepted and knocked the ball out of his hands. Castiel grinned as Dean shoved himself up against Castiel trying to grab the ball.

“Cheating.” Castiel pushed Dean away with a hand on his chest so that he fell onto the floor. He pushed the ball up at the hoop and it went through, Dean lying beneath it to catch it.

Dean jumped up again and tried to sprint around Castiel but caught a hand on his hip, spinning him around to face Castiel. Dean let out a small chuckle as he hooked his arms around Castiel’s neck so that the ball was behind his head, Castiel fixed his hands onto Dean’s upper arms to try and prise them away but instead found himself looking into the bright green eyes that sparked with pleasure in front of him. He in took a sharp breath as they locked eyes and Dean gave a small smile before winking and lifting his arms to chuck the ball into the goal.

Castiel let out a squeal as Dean scored and pushed him away to go and grab the ball, before he could shoot both of them froze as the sound of footsteps echoed through the court.

“Shit.” Dean rushed forward and grabbed the pile of clothes at the edge of the court and made a dash for the exit. Castiel ran after him dropping the ball as he went and the whole court was soon plunged into complete darkness as Dean dropped the switch.

~

Dean and Castiel slowed down to a walk now that they were further enough away. Dean had only managed to grab some of the clothing, they had pulled on what they had left as they were running away. Castiel was wearing Dean’s shirt and his trousers, while Dean was only wearing his sweatpants.

“I can believe that actually happened, you’re such a bad influence.” Castiel punched Dean’s arm and smiled up at him as they walked along next to the harbour. “And I can’t believe you can play Lionel Richie!”

“I can play a lot of things.” Dean grinned.

“So, how come you don’t make a living out of it, you’re really good.”

“Uh, I want to play my own music.” Dean scratched the back of his head shyly.

“Don’t you worry about paying the rent?” Castiel questioned, “I don’t love marketing but,”

“-What do you love?” Dean interrupted.

Castiel huffed, “I like doing those freaky angel paintings but that doesn’t mean I’m going to make any money out of it.”

“How do you know?” Dean raised his shoulders in frustration, his hands deeply seated in his pockets. “You’ve never tried!”

“I’ve never jumped into the harbour,” Castiel swung his hands in front of him towards the water, “Doesn’t mean it’s a good idea.”

 

“I think it’s a great idea,” Dean grabbed his arm, stopping both of them from walking any further. “I think. It’s one of the best ideas you’ve ever had.”

Castiel looked up at Dean confused, his head tilted to the side before he saw Dean slowly nodding his head, eyes shining in the dim light. “No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.” Dean sung as he started to make rapid movements with his hands. “We are going to. Jump. In. The. Harbour.”

“No.” Castiel said one final time as Dean ran over to the edge of the road and started to take off his sweatpants for the second time tonight, followed quickly by Castiel.  
They both stood at the edge looking down into the dark water below, after a quick glance to one another they pulled down their underwear and jumped in.

“Holy fuck this is fucking freezing.” Dean’s head emerged next to Castiel, looking shocked but still smiling. “This is the worst idea you have ever had.”

“It was your idea!” Castiel spluttered, shaking his head to try and free it of the cold.

They both floated there, treading water and chuckling before swimming back to the side and putting their clothes back on.

~

Dean and Castiel fell through the apartment door laughing when Castiel finally managed to get it open.

“I can’t believe you finally got me naked.” Castiel walked over to his bedroom to find some warm clothes as Dean went and fetched a beer from the fridge.

“Well, my shirt does look good on you.”

“Good, ‘cause I’m keeping it.” He called back from the other room.

“No you’re not, I can’t afford to lose any more shirts.” Dean opened the bottle and took a swig, “Women are always stealing my shirts.”

“Women aren’t always stealing your shirts, they’re borrowing them with the full intention of giving them back but you never call!” Castiel stood in the doorway to his bedroom, his hands on his hips.

“So you’re saying that if I had fewer one night stands I would have more shirts?” Dean set his beer down on the table and walked over to stand in front of Castiel.

“I think so.” Castiel smiled up at Dean, he so close that he could feel his breath brushing across his cheek.

“Well that settles it.” Dean’s hand moved upwards to stroke along the seams of his shirt until they found the buttons along the front. Dean slowly started to undo them as Castiel breathing quickened. “I’m changing my ways and I’m not going to lose any more shirts.”

Castiel continued to stare upwards into Dean’s eyes which were following his hands down Castiel’s chest, the pupils dark and blown. “Really?”

“Really.” Dean finished with buttons and allowed his hands to slide around Castiel’s waist. “In fact I think I’m going to take this one back right now.”

Castiel stood there in the unlit entrance to his bedroom and could think of anything to say, he was took focused on Dean’s hands snaking their way up his arms to pull off the shirt. “Good for you.” He finally whispered leaning closer to Dean with every breath.

Dean slipped the shirt off Castiel and let it fall to the floor, his eyes drifting down to Castiel’s belt buckle before flicking back up to meet his eyes. Castiel surged forward locking his lips with Dean’s warm soft ones, his arms moving up to hold Dean’s face as he pushed into it, tasting him and breathing with him.

Dean’s hands rested on Castiel’s hips as they furiously scrabbled at the belt buckle, trying to free it. Castiel wound his hands around him to clutch at his back and pull him closer, locking their hips together. Dean thrust back, pushing Castiel backwards until his knees hit the edge of the bed, pulling them both down onto the sheets.

Castiel sucked at Dean’s bottom lip before moving down onto his neck as Dean pushed down on top of his rolling their hips together.

“Wait.” Castiel murmured between kisses and Dean drew back briefly.

“Don’t worry I have one Cas.” Dean moving in again sliding his tongue into Castiel’s mouth as he grabbed fistfuls of Dean’s hair.

“No, I have to slow down.” Dean paused before sliding to the side of Castiel so they were lying next to each other on the bed, Dean leaning over so that he was still facing Castiel.

“That’s ok, that’s fine.” They were both panting now and Castiel truly wanted this, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it after all this time, he had to be sure.

“What if I just put in in a little bit, it wouldn’t even count.” Dean pressed another kiss to his mouth and he smiled into them.

“Gabe says it counts.” Dean sighed as he bent down again to connect their lips.

“What if it was like that much?” Dean held his hands up with a small gap between them and Castiel giggled. “That’s nothing, you wouldn’t even feel it.”

“Stop it.” Castiel laughed louder and hit Dean’s shoulder before curling up into his chest.

“I understand, that’s fine.” Dean whispered again, running his fingers through Castiel’s hair. “But I am going to keep kissing you.”

Dean waited for Castiel to nod and he smiled again and as Castiel leant up into Dean’s warmth, Dean’s hand cupping his face as he purred into the kiss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah extra long chapter for you all, and things are getting heated, hoped you enjoyed it as much as I loved writing it! Also please don't go jumping into harbors irl, Dean and Cas are idiots and your behavior should not be modeled on them. ;)


	9. Roll With The Punches

Castiel woke from a deep and restful sleep, his eyes slowly opened to focus on Dean’s face only centimetres away from his on the pillow. He gently slipped his hand off from where it had been cupping Dean’s cheek and began to slide out from underneath the sheets to freshen up his face.

“Hey.” There was a rustle and Castiel turned his head around to see that Dean’s eyes were open, blinking wearily in the morning sun. His hands were still curled up in the crook of his neck as he did when he was sleeping. “You always look so beautiful in the morning.”

“I do?” Castiel whispered positioning his body so that he was lined up facing Dean.

Dean breathed in deeply and rolled over, rubbing his eyes to clear away any drowsiness.

“How’s this for a slice of awesome?” He slapped the bed and grinned, still sounding half asleep. “Mexican wrestling on pay-per-view, all day. I walk to the store and get us some eggs and sausage for huevos rancheros, you stay here,” He gently poked Castiel’s chest. “And whip up margaritas. Sound good?”

Castiel had been slowly nodding throughout Dean’s suggestion before he froze, his eyes widening. “Shit. I can’t!” Somehow it had become early afternoon. Castiel clambered over Dean, with a few grunts of protest from him, before slipping off the bed and falling onto the floor.

“Cereal?” Castiel heard Dean mumble from above him as he pulled on his pair of jeans that were on the floor and fumbled around to find a shirt.

“No, I’m meant to be meeting Gabe!” Castiel grabbed his coat and pulled it on, shoving the phone from the bedside table and running a hand through his disheveled hair, “I’m already late, he hates it when I’m late.”

Castiel ran over and pressed a quick kiss to Dean’s lips, briefly feeling him smile beneath him, before running out the door.

~

Castiel stood in the middle of the florists pretending to examine the binder he was holding as Gabriel and Balthazar bustled around looking at the flowers.

“Wow. I can’t believe Anna didn’t want to pick out these place cards.” He frowned as the numerous pieces of white card in front of him, all with slightly different variations of the same font.

“No, no. She has terrible taste in fonts.” Balthazar chimed in, lifting his head from a large bloom of pink roses.

“Have you convinced Michael to come to the wedding yet?” Gabriel avoided looking at Castiel, his clipboard clutched tightly to his chest.

“No and I don’t have to because you are going to talk Lucifer out of coming.” Castiel pursed his lips, waiting for Gabriel’s response, instead he turned around, the papers he was holding fluttering slightly in the sudden movement.

“I am?”

“Let’s face it, Lucifer’s only coming because he thinks that he has to why not let him off the hook and make everyone happy?” Castiel doubted that this was actually true but it was a good solution none the less.

“It’s not a bad idea.” Balthazar re-emerged once again from the flowers, there were so many that even Castiel was concerned that they were going to lose Balthazar in the buckets of flora, and this was a florists.

It was while Castiel was thinking this that there was a ring of the bell above the door as Rachel, Anna’s maid of honour, entered into the shop.

“Anna sent me to supervise,” Rachel explained as she swept in, examining the flowers as she went, “She says don’t mess up her wedding.”

Gabriel rolled his eyes and gestured towards Castiel, “Good, you can help with the place cards.”

“We have narrowed it down to this one,” Castiel turned the binder towards Rachel and indicated with his hand, “Or this nearly identical one.”

“I’d still say Monotype Corsiva.” Gabriel stated, and Rachel nodded her head as though she knew exactly what he was talking about. Which Castiel didn’t.

“How do you know that?” Castiel turned the folder around again and sat down in the chair in the corner to inspect the place card samples, hoping to see some obvious difference between the two, but couldn’t.

“I’m married.” Gabriel and Rachel shrugged in unison, he sure hoped that there was more to being married than memorising fonts.

“I also want to hear about DC, Cassie.” Gabriel spun around suddenly and eyed Castiel curiously. “What did you do, did you go to the Holocaust museum?”

“No, but that would have been more fun.” Castiel sighed and turned his attention elsewhere.

“So there were no sparks with Ezra?” Gabriel enquired.

“Ezra? I thought you were looking for Inias Milton?” Balthazar’s head popped up again, looking confused.

“Inias is in Africa and Ezra wanted me to be his advisor but it’s okay because Dean is going to be my date for the wedding.” Castiel placed his hands in his lap and smiled proudly. He had finally found someone to go with him to the wedding and it was someone he could stand to be with, more than that, enjoy being with.

“Is that the guy that answered your phone and got mad at me for waking him up at two in the afternoon?” Balthazar questioned, not looking impressed.

Castiel lowered his head and suppressed a smile. “Yeah, I took his phone by mistake.” He had been in such a rush to get out this morning that he had just picked up the phone on his bedside table, only that it happened to be Dean’s. Balthazar must have rung him before he met him and Gabriel at this florists, the third shop of the day.

“You invited Dean? Your creepy neighbour?” Gabriel frowned down at Castiel, crossing his arms.

“Do we call him that?” Castiel blinked up at his brothers, not sure what reaction he should be having to their sudden change in moods.

“Just behind your back.” Balthazar called out from where he had walked away to inspect some lilies.

Castiel stood up angrily and glared at Gabriel, “Okay, let’s stop, because he is actually a pretty good guy.” He nodded as though it would reinforce his point and convince his brothers to listen.

“Oh Cassie.” Gabriel’s face had suddenly turned, disappointment and sadness etched across his features.

“What?” Castiel snapped defensively.

“You slept with him.”

“I did not!” Castiel in took a deep breath and frowned, but was only met with disbelieving faces, “I didn’t!”

“Okay, well don’t.” Balthazar walked towards him and stood up straighter, “He’s not the kind of guy you end up with Cassie, he’s the kind of guy you date before the guy you end up with.”

Castiel jaw slowly became slack as this speech went on before leaping to Dean’s defense. “How do you know? You haven’t even met him!”

“Well Kali has met him, except his name was John and he’s a fucking liar.” Castiel was taken aback by Balthazar’s sudden words, even if she had he’s different now. He’s with him.

“Well I have met him and he is dangerously sexy.” Gabriel interrupted Castiel’s train of thought, he almost smiled at Gabriel’s choice of words but instead turned his head away. “And if he wanted to come in through the back door, you’d let him.”

“Don’t let him Cassie.”

Castiel clutched the folder to his chest tightly and finally looked at Gabriel and Balthazar. “You guys don’t need to worry, I’m not going to let him in any door. He’s just a friend doing me a favour.” Castiel winced at his own words, praying that Dean would not hear him even though he was on the other side of the city.

~

Castiel dabbed almost absentmindedly with his paintbrush at the canvas in front of him, he had started a new painting of the view of the skyline from his window, planning on giving it to Dean but he couldn’t stop mulling over what his brothers had said earlier. Castiel liked Dean, but he kept trying to find truth in their words. Dean had grown on him so much over the last couple of weeks, so much that maybe Castiel couldn’t see his flaws? No that wasn’t it, he accepted them, maybe-

Before he could think any further, a small vibration sounded and a burst of 70’s rock sounded from the desk next to Castiel. Dean’s phone had received a text, from Sammy? Castiel dug through his memory and remembered that Sammy was Dean’s brother, it couldn’t be anything that Dean didn’t want him to see.

TEXT FROM: SAMMY  
[Hey Dean still no call, did you pass on Inias Milton’s No. to Cas?]

He stared at Dean’s phone, taking in the message as he heard his apartment door swing open and Dean’s voice travel across the room.

“Honey I’m home!” Castiel heard Dean jump down the couple of steps by the door. “So I got Mexican Wrestling for us, and I cooked.” Castiel could feel Dean looking at him, hoping for him to turn around and smile at his effort, but Castiel didn’t move. “They’re supposed to be taquitos, they look like canollis but they kinda taste like egg rolls.”

Dean started to walk over to him, twisting to get a look at the painting Castiel was hunched in front of. “What are you working on? Raphael? Alright.” Dean set his hands on the back of the chair and leaned over to press his lips to the base of Castiel’s neck. “Don’t let me disturb you.” He leant down once again and nipped a little at his collarbone.

Castiel bristled a little at the gesture, remembering the text as he heard Dean jump over the back of the coach and collapse down onto it and sigh loudly.

“Hey so, just out of curiosity did you ever hear anything from Inias Milton?” Castiel immediately regretted asking, but that didn’t change the fact that he needed to know.

There was a pause. “Nope.”

Castiel pressed his eyes shut, silently willing Dean to be honest with him. “Really? Not a phone call, nothing?”

“Nope.”

Castiel sighed and shook his head, why did Dean have to do this? He picked up his palette and brush and walked over to the coach.

“Okay well, I’m kind of busy right now so I guess I’ll just,” Castiel dumped the phone in Dean’s lap, “See you later.”

Castiel voice cracked a little as he strode off to put his palette in the sink, he heard Dean quietly curse behind him and jump up to follow him.

“Cas!”

“Just go!” Castiel called out from in his bathroom, pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “I don’t want to hear anymore lies.”

“Yes, Inias is back in town and I do have his number but I didn’t think that mattered anymore.”

Castiel swept out past Dean, refusing to look into his eyes, knowing that as soon as he caught a glimpse of that bright shade of green that he wouldn’t be able to stay angry at him. “Would you please just go.”

“What about last night?” Dean stayed where he was, his arms hanging limply at his sides.

Castiel closed his eyes, willing himself not to become emotional about a guy he met not even a month ago. “I think he should just forget about last night.”

“Because of Inias?” Dean attempted to understand, feeling smaller and smaller the more Castiel spoke.

“Because,” Castiel faltered, recalling what Balthazar had said earlier, “Because you’re not the kind of guy I’m meant to end up with.”

“What kind of guy am I Cas?” Dean’s voice had dropped, his eyes glistening with hurt.

Castiel leant against the kitchen counter and took a deep breath. “You’re the kind of guy you date before the guy you end up with. And I’ve already dated 20 of you.” Those last words tasted sour on his tongue and Castiel bit back, hoping that Dean would leave.

Castiel finally opened his eyes and turned around to lock eye contact with Dean who was stood in the middle of the apartment, eyes glazed, all joyful emotions from earlier gone.  
Dean breathed in deeply and put his hands on his hips, head rolling back on his shoulders as he took in what Castiel had just said.

Castiel turned around again, refusing to look at him as he slowly turned on the tap on the kitchen sink, trying to busy himself to distract him from what he was saying.  
“So you’re going to try and make it work with Inias, a guy you haven’t seen in years just so you don’t go over the number 20!?”

Castiel swung around, turning off the tap. “It’s not just about a number anymore okay!”

“Then what is it?” Dean swept forward, dunking down as he shouted.

“It what I want!” Castiel could feel the tears prickling at the corners of his eyes, but this only made him angrier.

“You don’t know what you want Cas! You’re so busy trying to be what everybody else wants you to be, you don’t know who you are!”

“At least I have relationships, you can’t even hang out with someone without sleeping with them!”

“Yes that was true until I met,” Dean’s voice faltered, “until I met you.”

“Well I’m sure if we had slept together you would be long gone by now!” Castiel shouted, raising his arms. “Because that’s who you are Dean and that’s who you’ll always be.” He walked off into the bedroom, unable to look at Dean anymore.

“Whatever you say Cas, you obviously have this all figured out!” Castiel heard Dean storm out and slam the apartment door. Castiel raced out after him and clung onto the door.

“And I do know who I am, I’m someone who’s not going to let another undeserving asshole into my heart!” He called across the hallway.

Dean glanced at him one more time before shutting his apartment door, Castiel did the same and walked inside to fling himself onto his bed and pretend that this never happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops. Sorry its so cliche, sorry you thought it was going to be happy, sorry that you thought it was all resolved. Stories don't work that way I'm afraid, especially when Cas is a dick.


	10. Take It As It Comes

Castiel sat down on his bed, shuffling back so that he could cross his legs and stared down at his phone. His chest still felt tight after his fight with Dean and he had been working himself up to finally press the call button for days. He took in a deep breath and gingerly touched his thumb to the green button on the screen.

Castiel raised it to his ear and listen to the repetitive hum of the dial tone, almost comforting after only hearing his own thoughts for a while. He heard the beep, sighed and began to speak.

“Hey Inias. It’s Castiel calling, Castiel Novak? From high school.” Castiel paused and wondered how to continue, he had rehearsed the conversation but now he couldn’t think what to say, “I um, came across your number and I thought, er, wow, I should really call Inias.” Castiel pursed his lips and internally cursed himself for sounding like an idiot. “And leave him a really long ramble-y message on his voicemail… Erm, anyway if you’re feeling up to it you could give me a call, anytime. Ok bye.”

Castiel pressed the button on his phone to hang up and finally let out the breath he realised he had been holding.

“Well, who doesn’t call that guy back.”

~

Castiel pushed open the café door and strode across the room to where Gabriel was sitting, he had been wary of coming today, due to the fact that last time he met him here Gabriel made him tell Michael about the wedding. Gabriel have him a sly grin as he approached and tapped the seat of the chair next to him.

“Not again.” Castiel glared as he looked at the table before him, set out for four. “Who’s the surprise guest this time?”

“I was supposed to have lunch with Lucifer to tell him he didn’t have to come to the wedding but then he said he was going to bring him girlfriend-“

“Lilith?” Castiel interrupted, sighing at the thought of her coming too. She was the slimiest and most deceptive woman Castiel had ever laid eyes on, not that he had laid eyes on many women but that wasn’t the point.

Gabriel continued. “But I couldn’t have that conversation with him in front of her, so I just thought we could do it together.” Gabriel flashed a smile and patted the seat once again, gestured for Castiel to sit down next to him.

“Why couldn’t Anna of taken the easy option and just randomly announce she got married one weekend like you did. So much easier.” Castiel grumbled as he took his place, slipping off his coat before shooting Gabriel a glare. “I am never meeting you for lunch again.”

“You don’t mean that.” Gabriel could hardly finish his mocking smile before he was interrupted by calls of Castiel’s name from across the café.

“Castiel! I didn’t know you were coming? What a nice surprise.” Castiel stood up and let himself be embraced by Lucifer before stepping back and mumbling a small hello as he hugged Gabriel. They sat down finally after the greetings before Lilith tapped his arm.

“He is so excited about Anna’s wedding, it’s all he can talk about.” Castiel forced a small smile and tried not to look into Lilith’s frost grey eyes.

“I can’t wait for everybody to meet my lady.” Lucifer moved in for a quick kiss to Lilith’s lips and Castiel snorted, wanted to show Michael he was happy and better off than he was is what he really meant.

“You’re coming to the wedding to? That’s great!” Gabriel forced his toned from shocked to delighted as he spoke. “That’s so great, Cassie isn’t that great?”

“That’s great.” Castiel repeated, pushing Gabriel’s arm off his from where he had been patting it when the pocket of his jeans began to vibrate.

Castiel took it out and glanced at the screen, Inias Milton. He called him back?

“Excuse me for a second.” Castiel smiled and started to stand when Gabriel grabbed his arm.

“Don’t go.” He was giving Cas his puppy eyes but he really needed to get this call.

“You’ll be fine.” He whispered harshly. Castiel answered the call and pressed the phone to his ear as he stood up and walked out of earshot.

“Hey Inias.”

~

Castiel sat at the two man table complete with bread basket and tea lights as he stared at the door. He fidgeted in his suit, one that he planned on returning the next day, he refused to accept money from Michael and he was not going to wear that suit we wore to DC again. It was like a bad luck charm, no wonder Dean didn’t like it. He leaned over to grab a roll from the basket and froze as he caught sight of Inias entering the restaurant, he passed several people on his way towards the table, shaking hands with many and shooting a wink or two.

Inias locked eye contact with Castiel as he passed another person and pulled them into a bear hug, the heat rose in Castiel’s cheeks as Inias looked at him and he glanced away, beginning to stand. Castiel’s nose began to twitch, he could smell something, burning perhaps? He twisted around to seek out the source before his eyes caught on something glowing beneath him, wisps of smoke coming up into his face. He looked down to see that the tie he had scavenged out from the back of his closet was now harbouring a small flame. Castiel scrambled to undo the neck tie, panicking and breathing heavily as he pulled from his collar and threw it away from him, letting it land in the extravagant fountain behind him.

He breathed a sigh of relief as he undid his top button to try and cover the fact that he had been wearing a tie and sat down quickly. Inias approached, apparently oblivious to the sudden ordeal and gave Castiel a small hug.

“Cas.”

~

“My brother went more into the business side of things and my Dad asked me to run the Foundation it was sort of more of a natural fit for me.”

Inias had been talking about his father’s business now for most of their date, they had both finished their main courses and were waiting for them to be cleared away. It wasn’t that Castiel didn’t enjoy hearing about his background, it was that it got a bit tedious after a while.

“I’ve always been better at giving away money rather than making it. I’m rambling, I can feel myself rambling.”

“No, not at all. Not at all.” Castiel smiled and snapped out of his half daze. “Kind of, but it’s interesting.”

Inias chuckled and leant back in his chair, “What about you? Last I heard you were in marketing?”

“Yeah, I’m actually in-between jobs right now,” Castiel’s eyes flicked down from where they had been staring into Inias’.

“Well listen, say the word and I could get you an interview down at Milton in two seconds.” Inias’ offer shared the same generosity and genuineness that was in his smile but Castiel shook his head.

“Thank you for the offer, but I’m actually thinking of trying something new?” Castiel let out a small smile and nodded.

“Oh yeah? What would you do?”

Castiel paused before saying anything, unable to think how to phrase it. “I paint biblical paintings, they’re sort of these freaky angel canvas but I enjoy doing them. It’s kind of hard to explain without showing them to you.”

“Well I’d love to see them.” Inias smiled again, reached across the table to clasp Castiel’s hand.

“Really?” No one had ever really expressed interest in his paintings before apart from Dean and Castiel was eager to show him. “They’re in my bedroom.” He said mockingly.

Inias flashed him a wink, “Then I think we’re done here.”

~

Castiel opened up his apartment door and stepped to the side to let Inias in, he glanced around the room cautious to see what he had left lying about but the room looked fine.

“They’re over here.” Castiel pointed to his bedroom and walked over, tugging at Inias’ sleeve. When they entered the room Castiel gestured to the numerous canvas around the room, some abandoned, half done but many completed and shining brightly under the fitted spotlights.

“Wow. They really are in your bedroom.” He stood behind him surveying the artwork.

Castiel chuckled and turned around to face Inias, only to see that he was already leaning in towards him. Castiel smiled a little and closed the gap, pushing his lips against Inias’ soft, eager ones.

~

“Did I tell you he speaks three different languages but he’s so not obnoxious about it, and he’s still so handsome! He’s taking me to this gala at the Institute of Contemporary Art or something-“

Gabriel shot him a tired look.

“Ok, I’ll stop.” Castiel was sat in the living room of Gabriel’s house that he shared with Kali, sipping a mug of coffee. “Are you okay?”

Castiel looked at the dark circles underneath Gabriel’s eyes as he ran a hand through his hair.

“Yes, no. I just don’t know how to get Michael to come to Anna’s wedding okay?” Gabriel stood up suddenly, wringing his hands, his voice breaking slightly. “She’s trusted me with it and now he’s gone all ‘I will die before I am within five feet of your brother’ on me and I don’t know what to do, and I’m really stressed out and-”

“Stop.” Castiel set down his mug, stood up and grabbed hold of Gabriel’s hands, “I will go with you to talk to Michael and you don’t even have to trick me.”

Castiel smiled softly as Gabriel nodded his head and slumped down on the sofa.

 

“It’s really not going to be that bad.” Castiel said, hoping more than anything that it was true as they pulled up in front of Michael’s house, and their old family home. “We’re going to loosen him up and ease into in slowly, it’ll be great.”

Gabriel glanced over at his brother, quirking an eyebrow in response. “Whatever bro.”

They got out of Gabriel’s car and walked in through the open front door, Castiel frowned at this, Michael wasn’t relaxed enough to leave a door open.

“Michael?” Gabriel called out as they strode into the living area, heads bent forward to peer around the door.

“I don’t believe you!” Suddenly Michael appear and both of the brother immediately straightened their posture. “When were you planning to tell me about this?”

Castiel and Gabriel shared a look as Michael opened his arms in question. “Now?” Castiel attempted.

“That’s why we’re here Michael.” Gabriel chimed in, this was exactly the reaction they had been dreading from Michael but they were not particularly surprised by it.

Michael marched past them and scooped up a paper from the table next to the door. “I have to read about it in a magazine? My own brother?”

Castiel frowned as Michael held up the paper for them to see, it was covered with full body shots of Castiel and Inias together, the day they had went out in New York. Gabriel narrowed his eyes towards Castiel, looking thoroughly confused.

“Is it true? You and Inias Milton?” Michael drew closer, pushing the magazine towards Castiel’s face. “Are you an item?”

Tilted his head, not sure which answer was the right one. “Yes?” Michael’s mouth widened into a toothy smile as he took a step back, placing the paper down again.

“Michael did you just smile?” Gabriel asked mockingly, Castiel hitting him on the shoulder before he could say anything else but luckily Michael was so pleased to notice. Finally the rebellious brother had done something right.

“Is it serious?” Michael paused from where he had been almost spinning in circles to stare at Castiel.

“I guess? We’re taking it slow.” Castiel tried, it was true though, they were taking it slow. Not because Castiel had explained about his stupid number thing, not that Inias would understand, but because they hadn’t spoken in years until now and that anything they did do would end up on the cover of the latest gossip magazine, speaking of which why was Michael reading one anyway?

“Do you really have that luxury?” Michael’s tone had turned serious again as he leant in towards him.

“I want to make sure that its right.” He stated simply.

“Oh it doesn’t get more right than Inias Milton. This is your life Castiel, don’t get creative.” Michael swung away from them again, clasping his hands to his chest before stopping and leaning back against the large piano in the centre of the room. “Tell me, is he going to be your date to the wedding?”

Castiel felt Gabriel nudge his arm gently and he looked into his eyes, “Is he Cassie?” Gabriel obviously wanted him so say yes as then Michael would be more inclined to come now that there was someone of high status there.

“Yes?” Castiel bite his lip in anticipation of their reactions but instead Michael clapped and started to walk out of the room, still talking.

“I’m going to get the seating chart!”

“So you’re coming to the wedding even though Lucifer’s going to be there too?” Gabriel called out after him, hope evident in his voice. They heard as Michael backtracked into the room and look at both of them.

“Of course, Anna only gets married once after all! Right?” Michael approached them again and Castiel flinched as he laid one hand on each of their shoulders. “I’m so proud of both of you.”

Michael walked off again as Castiel leant towards Gabriel and whispered through his teeth. “Do we tell him about Lilith as well?”

“I think we should quit while we’re ahead.” Castiel nodded in agreement and shuffled towards the door.

“Bye Michael!” They called in unison as they scurried out and got into Gabriel’s car.

~

Castiel sat in front of his large floor to ceiling window and looked out onto the city below, above on the roof, Dean was doing the exact same thing as he sipped a beer and sat on the sofa that suddenly seemed desolate with only one person on it.

~

Castiel picked up the suit in its protector bag and shuffled out of his apartment backwards, trying not to crease his outfit for Anna’s wedding later that morning. He heard a click behind him and turned to see Dean exiting his own apartment, he glanced at Castiel before turning his attention back to his door and closed it. He was dressed in a suit, something that Castiel hadn’t seen before, and looked like he had even shined his shoes.

“Dean, hi.” Castiel finally managed to blurt, tucking his keys into his jean pocket.

“Hi.”

“Fancy meeting you here, dressed all smart.” Castiel cringed at his own wording but continued, “Where are you off to?”

“A wedding.” Dean finally swung around and gave him a small smile. “You too right? Anna’s big day?”

“Yeah, you remembered. You’re going to a wedding too that’s weird.” Castiel smiled a little and adjusted the suit that lay across his arms. “Who’s wedding?”

“Nobody you know.” Dean dipped his head slightly in his direction and started off down the stairs.

“Oh, is it like a date or something?” Castiel leaned out over the bannister, he wanted to know if Dean was, he wanted him to be happy. “Are you seeing somebody?”

Castiel heard Dean stop on the steps and saw him shake his head a little, almost in disbelief. “Don’t worry about it Cas.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry.


	11. Breathe In, Hold It

Castiel stepped into the room where the bridesmaids were supposed to be getting ready and almost turned tail and ran.

“Come on Cassie, we’ve been called to help for a reason.” Castiel let Gabriel guide him through across the room, through the crowd of frantic women towards Anna.

She was stood near the window, hands clutched over her mouth as she looked out onto the lawn, which had been turned into an extravagant collection of white silk and roses overnight thanks to Michael.

“Her dress doesn’t fit.” Castiel heard Michael whisper into his ear, “The zip won’t do up!”

Castiel sighed as he heard this and approached Anna, ignoring the bridesmaids around him. “Ok, Anna don’t worry, the zips probably just jammed. Can I get some help here?”

Rachel pushed in next to him and pulled the two pieces of material either side of the zip together while Castiel pulled the zip up.

“Why won’t it fit?” Anna was sounding more distressed by the minute so Castiel stared at Gabriel until he made a move to comfort her, “And where’s my sandwich, did somebody eat my sandwich?”

“No honey, nobody did.” Gabriel placed a hand on her arm as he spoke, “Just relax okay? I’ll go and have a look.”

Suddenly everybody froze as a man in a dark suit and black earpiece pressed to the side of his head entered the room through the cream painted doorway.

“Ok, listen I don’t want anyone to panic…” The gruff man started, Castiel rolled his eyes at the man’s choice of wording, not exactly what he would say if he didn’t want people to panic, which was exactly what they were doing now. Anna wide eyes turned to stare at Castiel in the brief moment that the man paused, he could already hear Michael taking a deep breath, getting ready to start hyperventilating. “The harpist isn’t coming.”

Anna furrowed her brow and whispered, confused, to Castiel, her copper hair beginning to shine as the midday sun began to stream in through the window. “I had a harpist?”

Castiel shrugged his shoulders as the man continued. “She broke her finger during her orchestral rehearsals, and considering this is one of the biggest wedding weekends of the year all the other harpists are booked.”

Michael placed his hand on his forehead and sighed deeply, “Why is this happening to me?” He muttered quietly. Castiel could almost laugh at Michael’s reaction considering the severity of the moment, and the fact that Anna didn’t even realise that she had a harpist proved how much of this she had actually planned.

“I’ve got a list of all the other weddings in the city and found a replacement that can be here as soon as her first wedding is finished, but if that doesn’t pan out, I play the horn.” The man puffed out his chest and stood up with pride. Almost as soon as he had said this Castiel finally clipped together the back of Anna’s dress and pulled up the zip. “Now let’s yet this girl married huh?”

As Anna smoothed down the front of her dress Gabriel popped up from behind the sofa that most of the bridesmaids were sat on, a sandwich in his hand. Anna accepted it gratefully and thanked both her brothers as Castiel looked out onto the lawn below as the chairs set out began to fill up.

~

Castiel breathed in the fresh air of the beautiful summer as he walked down the aisle, arms linked with Gail, one of the bridesmaids before taking their place across from each other on either side of the vicar. Castiel looked out onto the crowd of people seated before him, Michael had decided that although the wedding would be extravagant, they would be selective about the attending guests. Finally Inias’ eyes caught onto Castiel’s and he gave him a small smile, dipping his head slightly as a silent encouragement.

Suddenly the air filled with the sound of the horn played by the man with the earpiece, whose name Castiel had later found out to be Uriel. The vicar called out for them to stand as Anna and Michael appeared at the end of the aisle. Castiel smiled warmly at Anna as they started to walk up, Michael looking around but Anna’s eyes fixed only on Constantine’s.

“We are gathered here today to celebrate the union of Constantine Brown and Anna Novak.” The vicar started as soon as the couple had taken their places facing each other at the altar. Castiel was glad that they had decided to do the wedding in the garden of their family home, he couldn’t stand being stuck inside a stuffy church any longer than he had to.

The vows were exchanged quickly and as Castiel watched he could tell that the couple were completely oblivious to those around them, they were swept up in each other’s eyes, hanging on to each word that fell from the others lips. Castiel looked on tenderly, finally realising that his younger sister was getting married.

The vicar’s face erupted into a wide grin as she finished the vows, and continued, “By the power vested in me I am happy to pronounce you Man and Wife. You may kiss the bride.” Castiel felt the tears prick at the edge of his eyes as Anna and Constantine leaned towards each other and sealed their marriage with a kiss. The guests around him began to clap and he joined in, fighting back the tears that threatened to ruin his calm composure.

Suddenly the air was knocked out of him as somebody pushed into him, delicate arms wrapping around his torso. Castiel looked down and stared into Anna’s honey eyes, so similar to Gabriel’s in their colour. Castiel rubbed her shoulder comfortingly and leant down to whisper into her ear.

“Congratulations Anna.”

~

The sound of the band starting soon erupted into the air and everybody out on the huge pavilion began to move to the rhythm. Castiel had somehow ended up across from Lucifer, but to be honest, Castiel had never seen him as genuinely happy as he looked now. He loved his siblings as much as Michael did, they just had different ways of expressing it.

“Quite a party.” Castiel looked up to see that Lucifer was speaking to him.

“Yeah it is.” Michael had defiantly pushed the boat out when it came to the reception. The band was playing on a built up stage at one end of the huge pavilion that took up most of the garden.

“Michael always did like showing off.” Castiel looked to where Lucifer was indicating and saw him talking to Inias. Michael loved Inias, especially the fact that he came from a rich and prestigious family, Castiel felt like it was the only thing he had ever done right in his brother’s eyes.

“I’m just glad he’s happy.” Castiel answered while he continued to stare at his eldest brother and his new boyfriend talking.

“Are you happy?” Castiel’s eyes snapped up to meet Lucifer’s, unable to think of an answer, nobody had really asked him that before. “Yeah, I guess.” Michael was happy with him, Anna had just gotten married and things with Inias were going okay.

Castiel glanced out across the crowd again to meet Inias’ eyes, he was slowly edging away from Michael as he grew more excited with every word.

“Michael only wants what’s best for you, you know.” Castiel looked up at Lucifer again and nodded in agreement, he knew that, Michael just had a funny way of showing it sometimes. “Unfortunately he thinks what’s best for you is being exactly like him. Only you’re not Cassie, you may have his composure but you still have the same streak as me, in you.”

“I suppose that explains why he’s always disappointed in me.” Castiel muttered, almost to himself, not wanting to look Lucifer in the eye.

“I think it’s hard for him to look at you and see so much of me, it was difficult for us, especially after Father died, you know that.”

As the song finished Castiel took a step backwards and began to clap for the band. Slowly the first few notes of Lionel Richie began to ebb through the crowd, people began to form couples and sway to the soft tune of the song as Castiel felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Inias smiling widely at him.

_Thanks for the times…_

“Sorry, I wasn’t going to stay and slow dance with your brother.” Castiel chuckled at the thought and nodded his head in agreement as he hooked his wrists over Inias’ shoulder, him doing the same to Castiel.

_There’s something…_

 “No that’s okay,” Castiel didn’t mind escaping from Lucifer and he smiled as he pressed his forehead to Inias’ chest. “I think the last time we slow danced was at prom night.”

_I must say out loud…_

 “Yeah, yeah it was. I remember that.” Inias smiled fondly at the resurfacing memories before gazing back into Castiel’s eyes. “I also believe that was the night where you finally gave me the honour of making you unfit for every other man in the village.”

_You’re once, twice, three times a lady…_

Castiel looked up into Inias’ teasing eyes, “Oh boy.”

 “I know this isn’t the ideal place to tell you, but I want to be honest.” Castiel bite his lip and closed his eyes, he really didn’t want to have this conversation at all. “You weren’t my first.”

_Yes you’re once, twice…_

Castiel was met by a confused frown, “I wasn’t?”

 “I know, I’m sorry.” Castiel pressed against Inias again in a sort of hug while they kept swaying to the music.

_And I love you…_

“Ok, so you’ve been with two guys in your life, big deal.” Inias’ smiled, trying to show that he didn’t mind and that it was in the past but his words prompted Castiel to speak again.

“More like 2 times 10.” Castiel tried. Inias huffed a laugh and also broke away from their dance as he chuckled.

_When we are together…_

“ _Right._ Like you’ve had sex with 20 guys.” Inias continued to laugh as he leant in closer again, “ _Yuck._ ”

Castiel forced a smiled as he nodded, Inias didn’t believe him, and what more he was shaming him for it. “Gross.”

_The moments I cherish…_

 “Well I may not have been your first, but maybe I’ll be your last.” Inias smiled down at him, his tone serious again.

“Why are you going to kill me?” Castiel questioned, longing to forget about the words that had just slipped out of Inias’ mouth.

“No, but I am going to kiss you.” Inias said finally, he leaned in close and pressed with lips to Castiel’s.

_With every beat of my heart…_

Castiel’s eyes fluttered open while Inias was still kissing him, his lips were cold and hard, matching the feeling that was beginning to form in Castiel’s chest. Castiel saw Michael give him a thumbs up over Inias’ shoulder as he drew away and grabbed Castiel’s hand.

“Come on, I want to talk to you.” Castiel obliged and followed him through the crowd to the edge of where everyone was dancing.

_To touch you, to hold you…_

Inias let his hand fall and smiled as he stood opposite Castiel. “So, how does dinner in Milan and breakfast in Paris sound?”

“Starchy.”

_To feel you, to need you…_

“I’ve got to do a little travelling for the foundation and I’d love it if you came with me.” Inias pointed at Castiel’s chest before reaching out to hold his hand again.

“Seriously?” Castiel smiled and squeezed gently at Inias’ hand, “For how long?”

“Six months, I know it sounds like a long time but I know you’re in between jobs right now and your little paintings can wait can’t they? And if you think about it, the only thing keeping you here is me, and I’m leaving.” Inias grinned down at him but Castiel frowned.

_There’s nothing to keep us apart…_

Suddenly they were interrupted as Uriel tapped at Castiel’s shoulder and beckoned him to follow, “Its time.”

Castiel smiled at Inias as he was led away towards the stage.

_You’re once, twice, three times a lady…_

Uriel snapped his fingers at the singer to stop and the music was cut off abruptly as Castiel stepped onto the stage towards the mic.

_And I love you…_

“Hi everyone.” Castiel started, he still wanted to know why Anna wanted him to do a speech when he was the least capable of all of his brothers. Castiel looked out to see Anna and Constantine sitting at their table, giggling between each other, but they soon turned their attention towards Castiel.

“When Anna and Constantine first got together, I have to admit I was a bit nervous,” Castiel took a deep breath, trying to remember the words he had written with the help of Dean to say today. “I could tell that it was seriously and I thought the closer she got to him the further away she would get from me and my brothers. That didn’t happen. Not only do I see more of Anna, I see a happier, even better Anna.”

Castiel paused as he looked at his sister, she was blushing as Constantine leaned in closer to kiss her shoulder comfortingly.

“It’s like with Constantine, she’s completely herself.” Castiel decided not to carry on with what he had rehearsed as it became clearer why they were a perfect couple. Castiel looked out onto the crowd to see Inias standing with Michael but his gaze soon shifted to see where Lucifer was standing. He raised a glass towards Castiel and nodded his head in silent encouragement.

“When you’re a big brother, it’s your job to teach your younger siblings everything.” Gabriel caught Castiel’s eye and smiled at him, obviously proud of his words. “How to ride a bike, how to lie to your older brothers, how to have fun. But, I never thought how my little sister could teach me until right now.”

“So I want to thank you Anna, thank you for teaching me that being in love, means being yourself.”

Castiel stopped, unsure of how to continue. Instead of saying anything else towards Anna he raised his glass and shouted, “To Anna and Constantine.”

The guests replied and raised their glasses also, cheering and the bride and groom kiss and everyone took a sip out of their champagne flute. Castiel couldn’t help but think about what he had just said and he knew finally what a complete and utter idiot he had been. Tears sprung at his eyes as he made his way towards Inias.

“You were great!” He smiled warmly, but this soon faltered as Castiel grabbed his arm and led him away.

“Can we talk?”

“Absolutely.” Inias replied, sounding concerned about Castiel’s behaviour.

~

Castiel led them up the stairs and into a small box room, bare except for one small bed. Castiel had spent quite a lot of time in this room as a child, it was cool and dark and perfect for escaping the busy household that was his family’s.

“Are you okay?” Castiel hadn’t said anything since he had pulled Inias away from the dancing, but he didn’t say anything now. He sat down on the bed and patted for Inias to join him. “Is something wrong?”

Inias was never going to accepted Castiel for who he really was, who he was to Inias was not who he wanted to be, and he knew that now.

“Inias,” Castiel started, scratching the back of his neck in discomfort of the situation, “There is something here that is really important to me, that’s keeping me here. And as much as I want to travel the world,” Castiel paused. “I’m not sure I want to do it with you.”

“Which is insane I know, because you’re perfect but you’re not perfect for me.” Inias shook his head and looked down at his hands in his lap. “And I don’t think I’m perfect for you. I’m so sorry Inias, if I had been honest with myself earlier, or ever, I wouldn’t have put you through all this.”

Castiel could see the muscles on his face tighten as Inias huffed out a breath of air before speaking for the first time since Castiel began to explain.

“Well yeah that would have been preferable.” Inias glanced on last time at Castiel before heading for the door, “Ok, I don’t think I’m going to stick around for then cake if you don’t mind.” Castiel almost flinched at the sour tone in his voice and stayed sat down as Inias left.

Castiel took in a deep breath before sitting up straight and rubbing his eyes, “Okay.”

~

Castiel rushed out onto the lawn heading towards the massive crowd of people when he was intercepted by Michael. “Where’s Inias going?”

Castiel looked out and saw him crossing the lawn heading towards the open space where the guest’s cars were parked. “He’s leaving.”

Michael spun around, “What, why? In the middle of the reception?”

Castiel let his arms fall limply to his sides as he stood opposite his brother, “Because I never should have brought him here in the first place.”

“You’re going to let him go?” Michael’s voice dropped as he took a step closer towards Castiel. “Castiel, I don’t understand. Why? You were finally happy!”

“No!” Castiel waved his arms in frustration, “You were happy! I don’t want to marry _Inias Milton_! That’s not who I am.”

Michael ran his hands over his face and sighed deeply, “I’m a jobless player who’s slept with 20 guys! And I want to be with someone who appreciates that about me!”

Michael stuttered and reached out to cover Castiel’s mouth, but he batted it away. “You may not understand me Michael, but you don’t have to. All you have to do is love me.” Castiel’s voice faltered as he finished, he noticed that Anna had come over to join them and was nodding slowly as Castiel spoke.

“I know I’m not perfect but that’s why you have Anna.” Castiel indicated towards his sister, judging by the look on her face Gabriel had filled her in a long time ago.

“My dress doesn’t fit because I’m four month pregnant.” Anna blurted, clutching the hem of her dress.

Castiel gasped, raising a hand to his mouth before erupting into a wide smile. “What?”

Anna nodded towards him and Michael before moving forward to let Castiel hug her. “You’re pregnant?”

“Yes, Cassie.” Anna rolled her eyes at having to repeat herself before pushing Castiel away so she could whisper into his ear. “Now get out of here.”

“Thank you.” Was all Castiel could whisper back, clutching his sisters arms before dashing towards the path that was visible in the midst of the dancing crowd.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're nearing the end now guys, just a couple more chapters to go. Thank you so much for sticking with it and it has been your words that has kept the story going. <3


	12. With Every Beat of My Heart

“Uriel!”

The suit-clad man turned around from where he had been shouting at a waiter holding a tray of champagne flutes, shooting him a confused look.

“Where’s that list you had of all the other weddings in the city today?” Castiel panted, skidding to a halt in front of him.

“Yes, it’s right here-” Before Uriel could finish the piece of paper attached to a clipboard was snatched out of his hand.

“Thank you!” Castiel raised it up towards him before shouting and running away towards the cars.

Castiel could feel the glow of warmth manifesting from within his chest as he took in great gulps of air as he ran, everything made sense now and the tears began to fill the corners of his eyes as he thought how he nearly thrown away the one person he was happiest with. Dean made him happy, and he was pretty sure he made Dean happy too.

Suddenly Castiel felt himself overbalance and saw the ground beneath him come up to meet his face, he stared at the lush grass inches away from his eyes before he realised he has fallen over. He heard gasps around his and heard the thud of footsteps on the ground as somebody rushed to help him up. Castiel waved them away and pushed himself onto his feet hearing a rip as he did so, the jacket he was wearing that Michael had picked out for him to wear today. Castiel grabbed the loose end and pulled, knowing that it was already ruined and that it would only get caught on something later, but to be honest he was too filled with excitement to care.

Castiel threw the jacket material onto the ground, picked up the list that Uriel had given him and began to move, pumping his legs in front of him. He slid to a stop in front of the collection of keys, nearly falling over for a second time. Castiel nodded to the valets who were stood a couple of feet away, raising cigarettes to their lips. Castiel scanned the keys, and after being unable to find him own grabbed one a random, and started clicking the unlock button, listening out for the car it belonged to.

Castiel heard a bleep from behind him and spun around. He was confronted by a very shiny convertible sports car, Castiel shrugged a small smile to himself when he saw it and started to walk over to in when a couple appeared and opened the doors. Castiel backed away quickly before they see him and crouched to the ground. So the keys obviously didn’t belong to that car.

He stood up again, pressing frantically at the button on the keys, and sweeping his eyes across the field that had been designated to holding the guest’s cars. Finally his eyes set on and old, rusted Honda, its lights blinking in time with Castiel pressing the key. He sighed and moved towards it, slipping into the driver’s seat, shifting it into reverse and slamming on the gas.

~

Castiel swerved onto the street, righting the steering wheel quickly and jolting to a stop right outside the church that people were beginning to file out of. This was the first wedding on his list that he had taken from Uriel and he still had lots to go.

“Dean!” Castiel called as he clambered out of the car door, standing on his tiptoes to try and see his face in the crowd of people now posing for photos.

Castiel swung the door shut and dove into the mass of people, pushing them out of the way and trying to find Dean. Suddenly Castiel was pushed in front of the bride, the photographer still clicking away as he was embraced by somebody next to the groom and tugged into the photos. Castiel stood there bewildered before mumbling apologies to the wedded couple, and, satisfied that Dean wasn’t here, dashed out to the car.

He couldn’t wait to see Dean, he could feel his chest tightening as he imagined the face Dean would make when he saw him. But Castiel was certain he felt the same way. He picked up the list from the passenger seat and scribbled off the address that he had just visited with a sharpie he had found lying on the dashboard for some inconceivable reason.

 

Castiel leapt out from the car and began to hammer on the clear glass doors at the entrance of the Synagogue after it did not open when he pulled the handle. From the corner of his eye he saw a Rabbi open the other set of doors adjacent to the ones he was hitting. Castiel cleared his throat and stepped over the small barrier separating the two men, and after a quick chat with him it became clear than there was no Dean Winchester here.

 

Castiel drummed on the steering wheel and he pulled down the street and pulled to a stop in front of the huge stone church. So far he had no luck in finding Dean as it was only just occurring to him that he should probably ring his cell again or just drive back to their apartments. Castiel launched himself out of the car and ran up the steps towards the large wooden doors entering into the church that stretched up towards the sky. He pulled them open and let them swing back behind him and he came to a halt in the middle of the aisle, searching the pews. Suddenly the doors closed behind him, echoing throughout the church with a bang, Castiel’s eyes snapped up to the couple by the altar grimacing. But his expression dropped even more when his eyes settled on a familiar pair of panic stricken ones.

Castiel’s jaw dropped in time with the brides as the guests turned their heads to look at the man who had interrupted the wedding.

“OH COME ON!” Shouted Domiel, his voice thundering across the church from where he stood, placing a ring on his wide-to-be’s finger.

Castiel forced a smiled and shrugged his shoulders, unable to think of _anything_ to say. “Um,” His voice reverberated around the room, “Blessed be this union and may it bear fruit!” He stuttered before spinning on his heels and dashing out though the door and into the car again.

Castiel almost covered his face with his hands as he sat in the driver’s seat but he knew he had no time to waste. He picked up the list of weddings and scribbled over the address of Domiel’s wedding angrily. This was just what he needed, another ex that thought he was stalking them. No that he had many ex’s that thought that, well, maybe a couple, but that wasn’t the point! Castiel shook his head to clear his thoughts, shifted the car into gear and drew out onto the road.  

 

As the night drew darker Castiel tried ringing Dean’s number one more time, and much to his surprise he heard it ringing stop as somebody answered the phone. Castiel took a deep breath as he prepared his words.

“Dean? Thank god you answered- I’m so sorry but I need to speak-” Castiel stuttered, he knew he wanted to speak to Dean in person and he was glad that he could finally find out where he was.

“What? Who is this? Dean can’t come to the phone right now, he’s-” Castiel heard an unfamiliar voice answer the phone, but it still had a similar twang to that of Dean’s. “Doing stuff. Can I take a message?”

Castiel’s heart dropped as he thought at what ‘stuff’ might be, but he answered anyway.

“Uh, yes I suppose so? Could you tell Dean that Cas re-” Castiel was suddenly interrupted by the other voice.

“Cas? You’re Cas? _Ohmygoodness_.” Castiel frowned as he gripped the steering wheel, how did the voice know who he was?

“Yes? Who is this?”

“Sam? Dean’s brother. I can’t believe I’m talking to Cas.” Castiel’s eyes widened in recognition, _Sam._

“Sam? Yes I know who are, ‘the floppy haired, puppy-eyed law student’ if I remember correctly, Dean thinks of you very dearly.”

“I could say the same about you Cas.” Castiel blushed before remembering why he had called.  

“It was nice talking to you Sam but I really need to know where Dean is, do you know the address of the wedding?” Castiel rambled, unable to get his words out fast enough.

“Wedding? What wedding? He’s playing at a high school reunion at the moment, he forgot his phone,” Sam explained “their band cancelled at the last minute, let me just get you the address.” Castiel heard the scuffling of paper as Sam found it. Dean had told him he was going to a wedding this morning? Why would he lie- Suddenly it dawned on him that he was an even bigger idiot that he had expected. _Dean had been dressed up to go to Anna’s wedding._ The one that Castiel had invited him to. Oh, he was such an asshole.

“I’ve got it.” The minutes passed quickly as Sam gave him the address and Castiel said his thanks before hanging up. He could speak to Sam another day.

 

Castiel pounded his fists on the dashboard as the traffic in front of his refused to move.

“Fuck it.” He mumbled as he stepped out of the car, leaving the door open and ran down the street. Castiel pushed through the crowd that was causing the traffic jam before his eyes came to rest on a pizza delivery bicycle resting against a house. He surged forward, grabbing the handlebars and hopping on as he called to the man standing in the doorway of the house.

“Blue car, keys are in it!”

 

Castiel pushed down on the pedals as fast as he could as he rode down the now clear road in the direction that Sam had told him. Cars beeped as they overtook him and his tie kept flying in his face. Castiel vowed never to cycle on a main road again. He took hold of his already loose tie, steering the handle with one hand and ripped it over his head and let go, allowing it to be whipped away by the wind.

The quantity of beeping horns increased along with calls of ‘ _Get the fuck off the road!’_ as Castiel pedalled furiously towards his destination.

“Shut up you asshole!” He called out to the driver that had just flipped him the middles finger after he overtook, his car horn blearing. “I’m sorry!”

Castiel was veering between lanes and this point, trying to keep control and avoid all the cars. “I said I’m sorry okay?”

 

Finally he pulled up in front of the beginning of the red carpet, and really, _a red carpet themed reunion?_ Castiel jumped off his bike and let it fall to the ground as he rushed up the full length of it before skidding to a halt as a large bouncer appeared.

“Sir, you’re name?” The man was holding a large clipboard, obviously full of the names of the people that were actually meant to be attending.

“Er…” Castiel mumbled, trying to see over the man’s head to catch sight of Dean. “I, er.” Another man appeared looking even more intimidating than the first as Castiel shook him head. “I’m sorry.”

“ _Hi everyone I hope you’re all having a good time tonight, I know we are-”_ Castiel’s head jerked up as he heard the voice of the man he had been longing to see for so long. “ _This next song is by The Impalas and I hope you enjoy it.”_

Castiel erupted into a wide grin as he saw Dean in front of a microphone standing atop a large stage. As one of the bouncers looked down at the clipboard Castiel suddenly remembered the situation he was in and turned and ran back down the red carpet.

 

 

Castiel placed his dress-shoe clad foot on one of the gaps in the painted green fence. He could see the throb of the party through the fence panel, and the numerous bouncers circulating the area. Somebody had really splashed out on this reunion. Castiel grabbed hold of the top of the fence and hoisted himself up, hooking a leg over the edge and tumbling over into the bushes below as he lost his balance.

He sat up suddenly after he hit the ground, wondering if anyone had seen him before running across the open lawn towards the stage. Castiel waved his hands wildly but it was no use, there were too many people in front of him. He sighed and moved around towards the side of the stage, keeping an eye on Dean singing all the time. He realised that this was the first time he had heard Dean sing with his band and he stopped for a moment, letting the words and his voice wash over him to the beat of the drums.

_I don’t mind you coming here,                                                                                                                                         And wasting all my time,                                                                                                                                                      ‘cause when you’re standing oh so near,                                                                                                                                         I kinda lose my mind_

Castiel stepped onto the edge of the stage, tambourine clutched in one hand as he shuffled towards Dean and the microphone. Castiel started to shake the tambourine as he got closer to Dean but he still didn’t raise his head from where he was playing his guitar. He pushed the man at the second mic out of the way as he leant in as Dean began to sing again.

“ _I don’t mind you hanging out._..” Dean’s head perked up as soon as Castiel’s deep voice echoed through the speakers, “ _And talking in your sleep…_ ”

Dean’s eyes widened as he kept close to the speaker to sing, still staring at Castiel.

“ _I guess you’re just what I needed. I needed someone to feed.”_ Dean shot Castiel a glare before turning back to his guitar to ignore him.

 _“Someone to feed.”_ Castiel echoed after Dean. “ _I need to talk to you.”_ Castiel attempted, he could see Dean’s body slouch as he pursed his lips and shook his head. “ _Right now.”_

Dean continued to sing as he ignored Castiel request before turning to face Castiel who was next to him on the stage and waved his arms to try and get him to leave. Castiel shook his head back at him before spinning around to face the rest of the band, gesturing towards his neck for the to cut the music. “Cut! Cut!”

Dean rolled his eyes and lifted his guitar out of the way as Castiel pushed past him to get to Dean’s mic which was a few inches taller than what he needed. “Okay, thank you everybody, we’re just going to take a short break, why don’t we get those toasts started so come on up here!”

Castiel smiled as the crowd applauded for the band and he dragged the reluctant Dean off the stage.

 

“What are you doing here Cas?” Dean sounded just as exasperated as he looked and Castiel pulled them to a stop at the end of the lawn, away from the crowd.

 “I have a speech that I want to make to you,” Castiel smiled weakly as he looked up at Dean’s eyes, but his expression remained neutral. “And I was afraid that I was going to forget it, so I figured it would be easier to drive, bike and run across town in my suit so I could tell you right now.”

Dean nodded his head solemnly, “What’s the speech?”

Castiel nodded his head and dried the palms of his hands on the remains of his jacket. “Um, well, the gist of it was, I’m sorry.”

Dean sighed, “That’s it?”

“No, wait there’s more. I’m happiest when I’m being myself, and I’m myself when I’m with you.” Castiel breathed a sigh of relief that he had finally said it, “I guess that I was so afraid that you were another asshole, I became the biggest asshole of all.”

A small smile escaped from the corner of Dean’s lips as he took a step closer, “You weren’t an asshole, _I_ was the asshole. I should’ve given you Inias’ number, I just.” Dean paused as his eyes flicked up towards the sky before settling back down of Castiel’s face. “I just didn’t think I could compete with that.”

 “There’s no contest. You’re the most decent guy I’ve ever met.” Castiel shook his head, pausing, tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. “I think I love you, 21.”

 “I love you too.” Dean snorted as he placed a hand on both of Castiel’s shoulders, “Three hundred an-”

“No!” Castiel quickly raised a hand up to Dean’s mouth to stop him from speaking anymore numbers, he was done with them.

Dean slid his hands up until they met around the back of Castiel’s neck as pulled him closer until their lips clashed. Castiel smiled into the kiss as he surged forward, wrapping his arms around Dean’s waist and drawing him even closer until their bodies aligned perfectly, receiving a pleased chuckle in response from Dean. 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's only one more chapter left folks, thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter, cheesy chick flick moments and all!


	13. Epilogue

The bright summer sun streamed in through the open windows before it came to rest on the couple wrapped around each other on the bed. The television was blaring the sounds of the Mexican Wrestling match they were supposed to be watching but they had found that each other’s lips were so much more interesting.

Castiel slid his hand around to the back of Dean’s neck and tugged his closer, carding a hand through his soft hair as he did so. Dean stifled a chuckle as Castiel curled up closer against Dean’s chest and leaned into his warmth.

The man opposite ran his thumb along Cas’ jawline as he cupped his face, but froze slightly as the phone next their bed began to ring, turning slowly to glare at it.

“Hey, Cas! Cas with one ‘s’, what’s up? It’s Jay from Club Purgatory,”

Cas grumbled as Dean pulled away and raised an eyebrow so they could both listen to the voice at the end of the phone. Cas could vaguely remember the name from the list he had made all those years ago and a fuzzy face was beginning to form in his mind but other than that he had no recollection of who Jay was or how long they had spent dating, if it had even got that far.

“I got a weird message from your assistant,” it continued.

Cas wondered what Samandriel had been gossiping about instead of handling Castiel’s, classical art and more recently sculpture enthusiast, commissions. Dean began stroking his stubble again before leaning in, obviously more concerned about the handsome man opposite him than the strange one at the end of the phone, but Cas drew back suddenly as “Jay’s” words.

“and I just wanted to let you know that we never had sex.” Castiel paused, his eyes widening, this was certainly not what he had expected. “You did this awkward strip tease involving maracas,-”

Dean drew back again to get a proper look at Cas, who was biting his bottom lip as he grimaced, and yeah, he remembered now. Cas was tempted to leap over Dean and somehow stop the message from playing but instead watched Dean, his facial expressions when he heard about Cas’ adventurous past were not something to be missed, no matter how embarrassing they were to him, and he wanted to hear what Jay was going to say anyway.

“Gave me a shitty handjob, something you like to do called dry style?-”

Dean sucked in a breath and Cas turned away, eyes wide at the awful memories.

“-vomited in my suitcase, and then passed out, in the shower.”

Cas and Dean turned their heads to face each other slowly, both displaying expressions of horror, Dean’s eyes watering as he held in a laugh, badly.

“So, yeah, we never slept together, bye.” The tone sounded as the call ended and they both erupted into laughter. Cas leapt up, bouncing up and down on the mattress while Dean clutched at his stomach as he laughed whole heartedly.

“You’re number 20!” Cas chanted, his face wide with a toothy smile, “You’re my 20! I’m still at 20!”

Before Cas could say anymore Dean grabbed a fistful of Cas’ cotton shirt and pulled them towards each other, their faces so close together that Cas could feel Dean’s hot breath on his cheek.

“Cas, like it matters you dumb fuck.” He whispered mockingly, his bright eyes shining as he closed the extra distance and clashed their lips together.

Cas returned the kiss and pushed Dean down onto the bed as he interlaced their fingers, the bright gold rings on their hands clinking together as they both wrapped around each other.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And finally I would like to thank you guys, whether you just read it, commented or left kudos, it means a lot and it's what helped me finish, so thank you! <3


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